Have you heard these words in a service before? "Please stand and worship with us." Yes, you have.
Or this- "let's continue our worship through hearing the preaching of the word."
Or this- "let's worship the Lord through giving."
But what does this word "worship" mean? It is indeed being used correctly in the above examples, but what are we actually doing when we worship and why are we doing it?
What is worship? How would you define it? What is is based upon? Why do we do it? How do we do it? Do we do it correctly? Is it music? Is it a service? Is it a lifestyle?
What if your kids asked you what worship is, how would you answer? Or if they asked why is it that we should worship God, what would you say?
You want to know something ironic? "Worship" is a word we throw around so much, but when pressed about its depths, we have little to say. How can a word so prevalent be so misunderstood? It is because we think we know all about it, when we really don't.
So, I want to talk about worship for a little while.
First and foremost, if you are wanting to build a skyscraper, or even a home for that matter, you have to lay a really good foundation, or the entire thing will collapse. I want to lay a good foundation for us when it comes to worship for the same reasons.
What is the most foundational truth that we need to understand when it comes to worship? The happiness of God.
"Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases." Ps 115:3
The foundation of worship and taking pleasure in God is that God is uppermost in his own affections; that the chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy Himself forever.
Now this may sound very strange to some of us, because we are so used to thinking about God’s designs and plans with us at the center of His affections. For example, we say that God’s ultimate design is to redeem the world, save sinner, etc. Though these are important, they are not the ultimate goal. They are performed for a greater purpose- the enjoyment that God has in glorifying Himself. This is the foundation of worship- God’s allegiance to Himself and not us.
Why is this important? Think of it this way: If God were not devoted to the display and enjoyment of His own glory, we as human beings, as Christians, could have no hope whatsoever of finding pleasure and enjoyment in God. Yet if if he does use all his sovereign power and infinite wisdom to maximize the enjoyment of His own glory, then we have a secure foundation to place our joy and hope in.
When talking about the happiness of God as the foundation of worship, the first thing we need to consider is this:
God’s Sovereignty is the Foundation of His Happiness and Ours
Let us look at Psalm 115:3 "But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases"
The implication is that God has both the right and the power to do whatever pleases Him. This is basically what it means to say that God is sovereign. Therefore, if God is sovereign, none of His purposes can be frustrated.
Psalm 33:10-11 "The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. 11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation."
In light of this, if none of God’s purposes can be frustrated, He must be the happiest of all beings. It is this divine, infinite, eternal happiness that is the fountain that the worshiper drinks from. It is the beauty that he revels in. It is the depths that he gets lost in- and wants to lose himself more..
Now imagine with me if you will, what it would be like if God were not happy:
What if He were given to grumbling and pouting; depression or dejection?
What if He were gloomy and dismal and distant and discontented?
Could we find joy in a God like that? Could we hunger and thirst after such a fickle, emotional God? Thus, if God is not happy, then we have no foundation for taking pleasure in God. For the aim of the worshiper is to take pleasure in God and to cherish His fellowship and enjoy His favor and delight in him.
If God were not absolutely 100% sovereign, this world would be out of his control, and the things that go on here would be frustrating His design and His plans again and again and again- He would not be happy!
Think of it this way: just as our joy is based on His promise that He is strong enough, good enough, and wise enough to work all things for our good, So God’s own joy is based on that same sovereign control.
How sovereign is God?
Isaiah 46:9-10 and Daniel 34-35 indicate that the sheer fact that God is God means that His purposes cannot be frustrated. There is none like this God, and if a purpose of His was thwarted, it would imply that there is a power greater than God’s. It would mean that someone could stay His hand and disrupt Him from declaring the end from the beginning, and that His designs would just be a lucid wish.
God is also sovereign over Calamities...
When you have time, check out Job 42:2, Lamentations 2:11 and 3:37-38.
We also receive Good and Evil from the Hand of God...
If God reigns as sovereign king, then the evil of the world is not outside His design. I am going to put the scriptures in their totality here, since this can be a difficult subject to explain
Amos 3:6 6 If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?
Now hear me closely here. This is not to say that God is the direct cause of evil. God can not tempt anyone, there is no shifting or turning of shadow in him. Also, the fact that God is holy means that he cannot himself do evil.
But what are we to make of scriptures like Job 2:7-10 7 Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" 10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Job makes this statement in vs 10 even though Satan is the one who afflicted him. Was Job wrong in attributing this in some way to God? No, look what else verse 10 says- he did not sin with his lips. Thus, the evil Satan causes is only by the permission of God. Because God is sovereign, nothing can act outside His permission. Therefore, He gave Satan permission to do evil. God permits evil and calamity. Thus, it is not wrong for Job to see it as ultimately from the hand of God, though in a permissive way. Further, it would be unbiblical to attribute to Satan, or man for that matter, the power to frustrate the designs of God.
The Murder of Christ...
One of the clearest examples that even moral evil fits into the plan of God is the crucifixion of Jesus. None of us would deny that the events surrounding Jesus' crucifixion were evil acts, but look at Acts 4:27-28 27 "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.
People make their own choices and act in accordance to their own desires to sin and rebel against the Most High, yet their rebellion is being used as part of the wonderful designs of God. Even sin cannot frustrate Him and is used to serve a higher purpose. God himself does not commit sin, but he has decreed that there be acts which are sin. This is a great mystery, but nonetheless true
There are more examples in scripture, but I think you get the point by now. Nothing is outside of God's sovereign control- nothing.
The Struggle and the Solution
Many theologians have struggled and wrested with this issue. One such theologian was Jonathan Edwards, whom I have mentioned before. He recounts the struggle he had with God’s sovereignty like this:
From my childhood up, my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God’s sovereignty….It used to appear like a horrible doctrine to me. But I remember the time very well, when I seemed to be convinced, and fully satisfied, as to this sovereignty of God…..And there has been a wonderful alteration in my mind, in respect to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, from that day to this; so that I scarce ever have found so much as the rising of an objection against it, in the most absolute sense….The doctrine has very often appeared exceeding pleasant, bright, and sweet. Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God.
- Personal Narrative
John Piper describes the distinction as God viewing the world through two lenses: a narrow lens and a wide-angle lens.
God sees an evil event through the narrow lens of His hatred for sin and the tragedy of what sin does, and He is angered and grieved. Yet He also sees it through His wide-angle lens. In this way He sees the tragedy of sin in relation to everything leading to it and flowing out from it. In other words he looks at the big picture. In the words of Piper “He sees it in relation to all the connections and effects that form a pattern or mosaic stretching into eternity. This mosaic in all parts-good and evil-brings him delight."
So how should all of this influence our worship?
1. Because God is sovereign over all the events of life and the affairs of our life- every circumstance, good or bad, is an occasion for worship. What should our response to evil be? Do we grieve and have anger? You bet! And there is nothing wrong with this. Remember, God feels the same way! Yet we should not stop there. Our ultimate response should be worship. We bow down to the sovereign plan of God in humility and turn our hearts over to Him. We praise Him that he has a bigger picture in mind and that He is already turning these evil events and tragedies into good. When we are hurt and crushed and bruised and broken, we worship. We do our best worship in our most broken state. There is also nothing more frustrating to the enemy and confounding to the world than to see a saint praising God in pain and perplexity.
2. When God allows evil things to happen, remember it is part of a bigger plan. We have a tendency to think that when tragedy happens, that the event has to do with us. Rather, it has to do with other people. What do I mean? God allows you to go through heartache and tragedy not for your own sake, but for the sake of others. He is trying to make you broken bread and poured out wine so that your life may feed others and be of benefit to them. Your pain is so that you can minister to others and glorify Christ. Thus, when evil befalls us, it is not some haphazard event that has no purpose. Rather, it is God considering us worthy to be identified with Him so that our life can be on display for others to see God making us a sacrifice for His fame! Thus, our response here should be one of thankfulness and not bitterness.
3. Because God is happy in and of Himself, we can take extreme pleasure in Him. The heart of worship is finding pleasure in God.
Psalm 16:11 11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
The pursuit of pleasure is not sinful when God is the one that you take pleasure in. Worship is not meant to be a cold formality with some abstract deity, but a joyful pursuit, a holy satisfaction with a living, joy-filled, happy, sovereign God. Because God is always full of joy, we can always find joy and pleasure in Him no matter what is going on in our lives. We can be unshakable because God is unshakable. He is sovereign and in some way pleased with what is unfolding in history, therefore we can always find joy in him in the midst of great evil and tragedy.
So, learn to see all of life through God’s sovereignty- it will lead to the response of worship!