Right Theology, Meet Right Worship

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD
in the beauty of holiness. (Psalm 29:2)

          Shame, shame.

          We Reformed Presbyterians take pride – often, I’m afraid, in the sinful sense – in our well-developed theology. If you and I were honest, we’d have to admit we stare down our noses at other Christians, particularly at Roman Catholics and at Episcopalians. Why, we have Westminster! What do they have? Man-made rules and ceremonies that confuse the Gospel?

          Shame, shame on you and me.

          As Jennifer, and as many of my Catholic and Episcopal friends, have observed, we Presbyterians might have the theology – but the Catholics and Episcopalians have the right spirit of worship. Granted, these things ought not to be. But visit a Catholic or Episcopal service sometime, and you’ll note that when they walk in to the church, they don’t amble around looking for a buddy. They don’t joke and hee-haw until the preacher starts speaking, as was the case at the first PCA General Assembly that I attended.

          They kneel before the Lord their Maker, the Holy One of Israel, and they pray in preparation to worship God.

          Worship, for many of us Presbyterians, has become “flat.” It is our chore, not our highest privilege – and sometimes we neglect worship altogether. You and I, then, desperately need to regain our bearings when it comes to the worship of the triune God.

          As we examine Psalm 150 this morning, we will learn that the worship of God is your reason for living; that the worship of God is your response to the Lord; and that the worship of God requires your best in all of life.

          Remember who the Lord is: then you, armed with your right theology, will worship Him in the right spirit.

          Psalm 150 teaches, first, that the worship of God is your reason for living. Worship is the point of life!

          Of course, you staunch Presbyterians already knew the answer to Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 1: “What is the chief end of man?” “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” The purpose of your life is to praise the Lord: to make His Name great at all times.

          As you examine this psalm, note that the song begins and ends in the same way: “Praise ye the Lord.” This is a poetic device called an inclusio. When the psalmist wanted to drive home a point, he might begin and conclude his poem with the same words, thus framing the psalm with a central theme. Clearly, the psalmist here calls on you and me to praise the Lord, and this theme courses throughout the verses. Thirteen times, in fact, the author exhorts you to praise the Lord. And in verse 6, he calls on every living thing to praise the Lord, which reminds us of Psalm 19: even the heavens “declare the glory of God.” Is this not also Jesus’ teaching when he instructed us in prayer? Before all else, you and I are to pray that God’s Name is hallowed – reverenced, set apart, glorified – in all things.

          As we survey the Scriptures, you and I note that we are to worship the Lord both in His house and in His world. The author in Psalm 150 commands you to praise the Lord “in His sanctuary,” which refers to His holiness but also, I think, to His house. Elsewhere in Scripture God calls on you to worship Him in the “congregation of the upright,” and St. Paul says we are not to forsake meeting together as some do. In light of the binding Sabbath commandment, which not only is a part of the moral law that still guides our Christian lives but also was observed by the Lord Himself before He ever gave the law, you and I must continue to gather on His Day to worship Him together. Jesus himself set this example! This means if Sunday is the high day of the week (which it is), then the hour(s) of corporate worship should mark the true pinnacle of your week. They are a real foretaste of Heaven and of glory!

          Just as you must worship Him in His sanctuary, you also must worship the Lord in His world. In our second lesson, Revelation 4, we read of the scene in Heaven where the church (believing Jews and Gentiles from throughout history, clothed in Jesus’ righteousness), along with four beasts representing the mightiest animals of creation, worships Christ. Focus on verse 11: there the church confesses that God created all things by His will and, importantly, for His pleasure. Thus worship should extend to every moment, every square inch, of your life.

          You wouldn’t think gardening has much to do with worshipping the Lord. God, however, placed Adam in Eden to dress it and to keep it: verbs that, in Hebrew, also were used of the temple service. When you use your God-given gifts to labor in any ethical industry to the glory of God, offering your work to Him in Christ, you are worshipping the Lord in His creation. (There’s your Labor Day sermon!)

          It’s interesting that in 1 Corinthians 10, Paul is discussing food and yet relates it to the worship of God. The issue there is whether or not it’s allowable for a believer to eat meat that has been sacrificed to an idol. Without delving into the specifics of the text, observe the apostle’s main point: whether you eat or drink, in whatever you do, make decisions and take actions that glorify God in Christ.

          If you were made for the primary purpose of worshipping the Lord both in church and in His world, why do many of you consider worship optional? At best, it’s a chore; at worst, you neglect it altogether. If you’ve ever felt adrift in life, not certain why you’re on earth, or if you’ve ever thought your work “meaningless,” you would do well to remember Psalm 150. Praising the one, true God isn’t your hobby, nor is it your weekly chore.

          It is your sacred duty and privilege.

          Second, Psalm 150 teaches that the worship of God is your response to who He is and to how He has revealed Himself.

          The English word “worship” actually derives from the older word “worth-ship”: to render someone the respect or reverence that he or she is due. In corporate, in private and in family worship, you and I are responding to God’s eternal worthiness as He has revealed Himself in His works of creation, redemption and providence and especially in His Word.

          Psalm 150, much like the other psalms of praise and “calls to worship” in Scripture, offers reasons why you and I are to worship the Lord. Here, we learn we must worship the Lord for who He is as our covenantal, revelatory, redeeming God. Note His Name, “LORD”: this is the covenantal, redemptive Name of God – the same Name He revealed to Moses from the burning bush. In a sense, it’s God’s “personal name” to His people, whom He has chosen to save. Why worship the Lord? Because He has chosen to reveal Himself personally to you in His works, Word and Son; and it is your high honor to call the Maker of heaven and earth your Father.

          Another reason you are to worship the Lord, the psalmist says, is for His holiness. When the psalmist commands you to praise God in His sanctuary, He is referring to the Lord’s holiness and “set-apartness.” Psalm 29:2 issues a similar call to “worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness.” Consider for a moment your own sinfulness. Did you think, say or do anything this morning – even this hour! – that didn’t conform perfectly to God’s law? Have you had a wandering thought during this service of worship? If so, you have sinned against the Lord, who is perfect in His holiness. Isaiah was so moved and terrified by God’s perfect holiness that he called down a curse on himself. Do you take God’s holiness seriously – and praise Him for it?

          The psalmist also calls you to praise the Lord for His power revealed especially in His mighty acts. His “greatness is excellent,” as you can see if only you’ll reflect on the world around you. Consider the wonder of human life: as Psalm 8 says, even a crying babe silences a foolish atheist. If you and I will meditate on the majesty of creation, and of the power of God’s hand in making all things from nothing, we will erupt in praise to Him. And if you particularly will think on the greatest miracle of all – bringing a dead sinner like you to life in Christ – you surely will worship and adore Him.

          One of the major impediments to the worship of God is that you and I live in a society of fatness, of materialism and of pride. Our thoughts never ascend to the glory of God because we are obsessed with God’s creation: our toys, our meals, our hobbies. We would much rather worship the creation than the Creator. What is more, society pounds Darwinism into your minds, so that this glorious creation is supposedly reduced to elements and to “chance.” We no longer need the Creator. And in a self-help society and, worse, a self-help church, you and I don’t think we need the righteousness of Christ credited to us in order to enter Heaven. We’ll waddle down the aisle and make buddies with Jesus when – if – we’re good and well ready. But you and I even think salvation depends on us.

          You and I have shoved the triune God to the sidelines of our lives and of His world. Is it any surprise no one comes to worship anymore?

          Third, the worship of God requires the very best you have: here, in His house, and in His world.

          All those instruments mentioned in verses 3-5 blend together for a rousing flourish to end the Psalter (the hymn-book of Israel). While not all of them must (or even ought to be) used in every setting of corporate worship, the larger point is this: you and I are to employ all that we have – particularly those instruments best equipped to sound His praise – in the worship of God. In other words, you must offer the Lord your best, from a heart of faith in Christ, which will resound in His glorious presence.

          Examine again our first lesson, the account of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. Contrast their offerings: as Hebrews 11 tells us, Abel offered his sacrifice in faith while Cain did not; Abel made an offering while Cain evidently completed his chore; Abel offered the firstlings and the fat (the choicest portion), while Cain offered “some of” his harvest. Abel’s faith was borne out in his offering; Cain’s paganism manifested itself in his.

          When you think on corporate worship here on the Lord’s Day or the worship of God in your daily life and work, do you offer the Lord your best – something that will resound in a flourish of praise before Him? Or do you offer Him some of what you have some of the time … but only because you have to?

          Worship that pleases the Lord, that the Father seeks, is first and foremost offered in faith in Christ. Jesus makes your worship pleasing to our Holy Father. But God-pleasing worship also involves giving Him your very best, whatever that “best” happens to be.

          Do you amble into church on Sundays sleepy and unprepared? To offer God your best requires that you get a good night’s sleep and prepare spiritually, through Bible reading, prayer and holy resting, for worship. It involves reading the sermon lessons that I have printed in the bulletin a week in advance. It involves focus during the service, and diligence in the world as you fit pipes and tie knots and cook meals to the best of your ability to the honor of God.

          The Lord deserves your best.

          I’m not for a second suggesting you and I should trade theologies with the Roman Catholics or with the Episcopalians (although theirs historically was virtually the same as ours). I am requiring, however, that you pay close attention to their approach to the worship of God.

          They come in, kneel, and pray before the Living God. They come not to talk or to gawk but to exalt the one, true God. It’s this type of focus that Psalm 150 says must frame your Sundays and your everyday.

          For many of us in Greene County, worship is little more than a chore to be checked off our list flatly every Sunday at 12:01 p.m. It certainly has nothing to do with Monday at 8:01 a.m.

          But that’s not how the triune God sees it. Spend some time beholding Him – in His world, in His Word and in His Son. Then you with your right theology will be prepared for right worship.