Another seven days pass and we get up, have breakfast, get the kids dressed, make our way from our houses to assemble ourselves on the Lord’s Day. We greet others, find a seat, get a song book and wait for the service to begin.
WHY? Why do people come to religious services? Some may come because they feel that they have to—because their parents or spouse makes them. Others see it as a tolerable exercise in spiritual attainment—sort of to punch a spiritual clock or get brownie points with the Maker. To others it is a time to socialize—see and be seen. To others it is an essential part of the week, a positive force for good in their lives. The late Batsell Barrett Baxter once observed that “worship is the most important yet, at the same time, the most difficult experience in the Christian’s life.” Worship is the Christian’s highest duty and will be his occupation in eternity. It is to Christian living what the mainspring is to a watch. It is the very core of our response to God. Why bother to worship?
GOD DESIRES TO BE WORSHIPPED—HE “SEEKETH SUCH TO WORSHIP HIM” (John 4:23). He has commanded us to worship Him (Psalm 45:11; Revelation 22:9). This is one of the shortest commands in the Bible, yet it entails much. God is not vain, yet He wants to be worshipped. He made us for this purpose (1 Peter 2:9).
MAN DESIRES TO WORSHIP (Psalm 42:1). Worship is the theme of history from Genesis to Revelation. Man feels the upward pull. Men will worship—the variable is what they worship. The ancient Egyptians worshipped the sacred white bulls and lowly scarabs. The Greeks had their marble gods and goddesses. The American red men had totem poles. The people of India worship the sacred cow. Some today worship sports, careers, money, pleasure. Christians worship the God of heaven. To be healthy spiritually, we need to worship (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:30). A tree, although it must have water to live, cannot stay alive by receiving water. It must give away gallons of it every day through its leaves. If in some way a tree should stop giving, it would stop growing and soon die (cf. Psalm 1:3). So it is with a Christian—we have to give back to God.
GOD DESERVES WORSHIP. The English word “worship” originally came from the Anglo-Saxon weorthscipe, from weorth (worthy, honorable), and scipe (ship), developing later into “worship” (attributing worth to a thing or person). Of course, only God is worthy of supreme honor. The primary Old Testament word for worship (shachah) means “to bow down; to prostrate one’s self; to do obeisance” (cf. Gen. 24:52; Ex. 4:31). The primary New Testament word (proskuneo) (61 occurrences; cf. Mt. 2:2; 4:10) means “to kiss the hand toward,” from the pagan custom of showing affection to the “gods.” Taking all the New Testament words for worship, one can get a full grasp of what it is. Worship should have the motivations of making obeisance to One greater (proskuneo), of feeling awe in His presence (sebomai), of reverently “bowing the knee” before Him (gonupeteo), of humbly offering our lives in sacrificial service to Him (latreuo), and of establishing a pattern of life consistent with our worship (leitourgeo) (Gilmore).
If we do not praise God in each worship service, then we have failed. The Hebrew word for “praise” is halal, which literally means “to shout.” From this word we get Hallelujah (“Praise Jehovah”). We praise by singing (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; cf. Ex. 15:1; 32:18), praying, and, sometimes, studying. At the birth of Jesus, angels praised God saying, “Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:13). If we had the tongues of angels and the voice of birds, we could not praise Him as He deserves to be praised. If we were born speaking praises and had breath to never cease, we could not adequately praise His name. If every rock could speak, it would praise God. If the stars could sing, their song would be one of praise.
Since Jehovah is the greatest God (the only true and living God), He deserves the very best worship this world can offer Him (cf. Gen. 4:4; 22:16). When he finished high school, Al Kaline walked off the sandlots of Baltimore to begin playing right field for the Detroit Tigers. Without playing a day of minor league or college ball, he played right field for the Tigers like no one before or since. Later, he turned town a $100,000 contract saying that it was too much. He signed that year for $90,000. At the age of thirty-four, Kaline batted .379 in the 1968 World Series. Near the end of his career, he was asked how he would like to be remembered. His reply was, “As a man who gave his best every day.” We need the “Kaline attitude” when we come before God in worship.
We praise God for of His greatness. Such wonder is not born of ignorance, but knowledge. The greater our knowledge of God, the more awesome wonder we feel in His presence. He is Creator of all. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, always present, and infinitely loving. He is eternal. We also praise God for deliverance (Ex. 15:11; 2 Sam. 22:50). David said, “We must declare among the people His doing” (Psalm 9:11) and “I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee” (Psalm 22:22; cf. Hebrews 2:12; 13:15). We praise God for blessings received. Worship is a time of praise (Psalm 69:30-32; 71:8,14; 86:5,15; 92:1-8; 95:1-7; 100:4; 150:6). Leah rejoiced in the birth of her son and cried, “This time, I will praise the Lord” (Gen. 29:35), and she named her son “Judah,” which means “Praise.” It was from the tribe of Judah that Jesus came, according to the flesh (Gen. 49:10). When Zacharias answered the question, “What shall his name be?” with “His name shall be called John,” his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed. After nine silent months, his first words were of praise to God (Luke 1:64). When we take time to count our blessings (James 1:17), it makes us want to worship God.
