Introduction
Every issue in life, every action, every word, every relationship is ultimately about worship. The events of 1 Samuel 15 help us see that. Saul brought home sheep and cattle that were supposed to be destroyed on the field of battle as an act of worship to the Lord. The Amalekites and their possessions were to be offered to the Lord like Jericho was in the time of Joshua, 2-3.
Josh. 6:17-19 – But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: "Shout, for the Lord has given you the city! Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent."
But Saul decided that the Lord should be worshipped in a different way than he had prescribed, 15. The result of this decision on Saul's part was his removal as king of Israel, 23b.
I. The First Thing Saul Teaches Us Concerning Worship Is That True Worship Is Rooted in an Obedient Heart, 22.
A. There are several ways we can mess up worship.
1. We can worship a false god.
2. We can try to worship the true God falsely.
a. We can try to worship the true God falsely by having the wrong heart attitude.
b. We can try to worship the true God falsely by bringing to him as worship what he did not ask.
c. We can try to worship the true God falsely by doing both of these things at the same time – that's what Saul attempted.
B. Saul is not alone in these things – it is a common struggle for God's people.
1. Two centuries later, God says that his people will be taken captive by a wicked people for this very reason.
Is. 1:11-17 – To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?" says the Lord. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Is. 58:1-12 – Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching God. 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?' In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers. Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
2. You would think that with all these warnings and the captivity itself, the people of God would wake up to the errors of their ways and would start worshiping the true God with right hearts, but no.
Mal. 1:6-8 – A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, 'In what way have we despised Your name?' You offer defiled food on My altar, but say, 'In what way have we defiled You?' By saying, 'The table of the Lord is contemptible.' And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?" Says the Lord of hosts.
3. We are not different than they were – we too are glory-robbers.
II. We Must Talk about Worship Because the Bible Talks about Worship.
A. It is important for us to talk about worship because God wants us to worship him.
Ex. 34:14 – …you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God…
Jn. 4:23 – You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
B. It is important to talk about worship because we are wired to worship – we will do it no matter what.
Rom. 1:18-25 – For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
1. It is part of who we are to be worshippers.
"homo sapien, homo faber, yes…, but first of all, homo adorans." Alexander Schmemann
2. The question becomes who or what we worship.
a. Because of the Fall, we naturally rebel against God.
1) We know he exists.
2) We are compelled to worship him, but we suppress those innate desires in unrighteousness.
b. Being a worshipper is such a foundational part of whom we are that it comes out anyway, even when we attempt to suppress it.
1) We think that we are so sophisticated because we don't actually have images or statues in our houses or in our temples that we bow down to.
2) Yet, we have all kinds of things in our lives that function like idols.
a) Desire for success;
b) Family;
c) Self;
d) Anything that we are willing to control our lives other than the God of the Bible.
3) John Calvin expresses this idea well.
"Man's nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.... Man's mind, full as it is of pride and boldness, dares to imagine a god according to its own capacity; as it sluggishly plods, indeed is overwhelmed with the crassest ignorance, it conceives an unreality and an empty appearance as God.... To these evils a new wickedness joins itself, that man tries to express in his work the sort of God he has inwardly conceived. Therefore the mind begets an idol; the hand gives it birth.... Daily experience teaches that flesh is always uneasy until it has obtained some figment like itself in which it may fondly find solace as in an image of God." Institutes 1.11.8
III. What Is Worship?
A. The English word worship is the contraction of two words: worth + ship.
1. It originally meant acknowledgment of worth because of merit.
2. This is very close to the core idea of worship.
B. John Piper suggests that the essence of biblical worship is "to act in a way that reflects the heart's valuing of the glory of God."
1. In other words, at its foundational level worship is a treasuring of God in our hearts above everything else.
2. We could also say that foundationally worship is believing who God is and acting on that belief.
Heb. 11:6 – But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
3. According to this basic definition of worship, we see that it is life-encompassing.
Ex. 20:3 – You shall have no other gods before Me.
a. The words before me are an idiomatic translation of before my face.
b. The command is not to have any other gods while in the presence of God.
1) God is present everywhere – not just every place, but also every situation of life.
2) Therefore, all of life is lived in the presence of God – all of life is worship.
Rom. 12:1-2 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
3) R.C. Sproul often uses the expression coram deo to remind his audience of this truth.
a) We worship God in our parenting.
b) We worship God in our marriages.
c) We worship God in our work.
d) We worship God in our studies.
e) We worship God in our relationships.
f) We worship God in our entertainment.
g) We worship God in our finances.
h) We worship God in our worship.
4. John Piper suggests that worship is the reason for missions.
"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, mission will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever." Piper in Let the Nations Be Glad
Ps. 22:27 – All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.
Ps. 66:4 – All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; they shall sing praises to Your name.
Ps. 86:9 – All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.
IV. True Worship of the True God Is a Major Theme of the Bible Because It Displays Better Than Anything the Promise That God Will Be Our God and We Will Be His People.
A. From creation to the Mosaic Covenant – simple worship that conveys the presence of God with his people.
1. Nothing was simpler than the Garden where man and God walked side by side.
2. From Genesis 3 to Exodus, there are glimpses of complexity, but the worship of God, particularly the corporate worship of God is generally unstructured.
a. Abel, Cain, Job, Abraham offer sacrifices.
b. Some public acknowledgement of God starts taking place in Gen. 4.
Gen. 4:26 – And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.
c. With the Abrahamic Covenant, the visible people of God is established and they start worshipping God corporately.
Gen. 17:9-14 – And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
d. In all these things we see the complexity of what is coming with the Mosaic Covenant – nothing compares with it complexity.
B. From the Mosaic Covenant to the resurrection of Christ (and the destruction of the temple) there are more complex ways to show God's presence with his people.
1. Establishment of a formal sacrificial system for atonement.
2. Establishment of official priesthood for mediation (before now, Melchizedek).
3. Establishment of a centralized place of worship – tabernacle/temple.
4. Development of singing as part of the corporate worship under David and Solomon
5. Development of preaching under Nehemiah and Ezra.
C. From the resurrection of Christ (and the destruction of the temple) to eternity – simplicity.
1. The priesthood, the sacrifices, and the place of worship were all combined in a person – the Lord Jesus Christ.
a. We can see that in the tabernacle/temple institution is the place where God is present with his people, dwells with them, and is worshipped by them – Covenant of Grace.
b. The reality of God's residing among his people displays an ever-increasing significance throughout the Bible.
1) It moves from the figure of the tabernacle to the figure of the temple to the figure of the city of God.
2) It involves the incarnate Christ, the church of Christ, and the final glorification of God's people.
c. In each case, God's dwelling among his people is related directly to the heart of the covenant concept: I will be your God and you will be my people.
d. The essence of the covenantal relation found its initial fulfillment in the form of the tabernacle.
1) God commanded Israel to build a tabernacle so that he might dwell among them.
Ex. 25:8 – And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
2) He was going to meet with his people at the tabernacle.
Ex. 29:42-44 – This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak with you. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory. So I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me as priests.
e. In Jesus Christ, God tabernacles with us.
Jn. 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
f. This covenantal theme remains for all eternity.
Rev. 21:3-4 – And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
g. The theme I will be your God and you will be my people reaches its climax through its embodiment in a single person.
Is. 42:6-7 – I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
D. All of the movement in the history of redemption happened so that we could see Jesus and worship him!
Conclusion
Ultimately no one can worship the true God of the Bible truthfully apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us in John 14:6 that he is the only way to the Father and no one can have access to the Father except through him. True worship only happens when it is offered in Jesus's name because of real faith in whom he is and in what he has done for his people.
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