Worship: where and how?

The New Testament reminds readers that God gave commandments for worship and a location where worship should take place:

“Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.” (Hebrews 9:1)

In the Old Testament, the place of worship was Zion, the mountain of God:

“Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy!” (Psalm 99:9)

From this and perhaps from the human tendency to want rules and ritual, we have buildings and call them our place of worship. The problem is that it the ease of sliding into a Sunday-only routine in which worship happens on the first day of the week and in the local church. For many, this place and time are precious, yet even the OT defined worship in ways that go beyond a place and a day.

“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” (1 Chronicles 16:29)

Worship is about giving God the glory due Him. Certainly He demonstrates His goodness and power every day of the week and in all places. It seems that worship should be the same.

Worship is also about bringing an offering. In the OT God defined a sacrificial system yet it pointed to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When we worship, our offering is not a lamb or grain or anything we can produce; it is the offering God made to us. His Son shed His blood for our redemption. When I worship God, the salvation of Jesus Christ for my sin is a large part of why I bow before Him.

“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” (Psalm 29:2)

Having tried to list all the wonders of God and the glory due His name, I run out of paper and ink. The world and all that is in it; the way things work; the amazing creation including the heavenly bodies and human bodies; beauty and color; the weather; and most of all the wonder of His visit to this planet to bring redemption to sinners. The glory due His name has no end and for these I worship.

“Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!” (Psalm 96:9)

Worship is also about attitude, about my standing before Him. He is holy but because of Jesus and the power of the Word of God, I am also set apart for Him, made holy by His blood. It is not about ritual but a way of being and in that way of being I can worship Him. And because I know what I am without Jesus, I worship with awe and trembling. I know that I cannot deserve this privilege, this awesome opportunity and experience of worshiping Almighty God.

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Lord Jesus, what more can I say? You are entirely worthy of every good thought, every praise, every thankful expression I can muster. Fill me today with worship — and I know it is Tuesday and I know I am in a condo basement and not at Your holy mountain, but I also know that I can worship You all the time and wherever I am.

Why is more significant than how . . .

Worship takes many forms such as, fasting, prayer, praise, gratitude, singing, lifting hands, service, and silent reverence. However, Jesus stated it most succinctly when He said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

Tozer writes, “Worship means to express in some appropriate manner what you feel.” He adds that this means we do not always express it in the same way all the time or in the same manner, just that it will happen.

I like what Jesus said because He clarifies that worship is from the heart and according to truth. I like what Tozer says because he clarifies that worship is expressed from an inner attitude and cannot be faked.

“For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” (1 Chronicles 16:25–29)

To worship in truth means giving homage to God according to His revelation of Himself. These verses say He is great and I should be in awe of Him, turning my back on worthless idols because God created all things, even the stuff that people use to fashion their idols. He is magnificent, strong, and a God of joy. He is worthy to receive all the honor I can give Him — and He wants me to worship Him in holiness.

As Tozer says, we are not told to worship Him in the same way, as if we are cookie-cutter Christians. I learned that at Bible school. Each day the student body attended chapel where we sang and worshiped God. I saw many different expressions of worship. At first some of it made me feel uncomfortable, yet I soon realized that these students loved the Lord, whether they stood in awe or were almost dancing in the aisles. Their expressions of what they felt about Him were as varied as their denominational labels, but all of it was in spirit and in truth.

Not only that, these variations brought us together. The hands-in-the-air people did not stand in one corner, nor the serious-faced types in another. We rejoiced in God together because those chapels were not about us but about our Lord and Savior — and God loves variety!

Part of the reason for this conclusion is simple: look at the world, even just the flowers in the world. Their faces are turned toward heaven yet even those with the same shape and name come in different colors. Also, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1) Of the billions of stars and heavenly bodies, each has its own distinctives, like snowflakes, blades of grass, and grains of sand. When I consider the handiwork of God, I must worship.

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Jesus, what a delight to look at what You have made and marvel at the variety and intricacy of it all. What a joy to realize that I am part of that and You do not ask me to be like everyone else, just to be like me. You do desire that my worship be in spirit and from the heart, and that it be in truth and according to who You really are. You also ask that I worship You in holiness which is the most amazing thing because holiness is a gift of grace, a status bestowed on me because of Your sacrifice on the cross, Your death to give me life. It is because of You that I know who You are and because of You that worship is possible.