Everett Henes: The purpose of worship
Worship is not about us. This is one of those statements that seems obvious, once you say it, but is often unrealized until you say it. We can easily think that worship is supposed to be for our benefit. I’ve heard people leave church and say, “I didn’t get anything out of that.” It’s a misunderstanding about worship to believe that we’re supposed to get something out of it. Why do we worship?
We can start with the fact that God exists and, if we truly believe that, then he calls us to worship. It is a divine command. We see this in the Psalms, calling us to worship. One that sticks out in my mind is Psalm 95, "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care." This psalm emphasizes worship as an expression of reverence and acknowledgment of God's sovereignty and care over his people.
Other commands for worship are found in Scripture. In Psalm 29 we read, "Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness." This verse highlights the purpose of worship as giving glory and honor to God's name and recognizing His holiness.
The Apostle Paul teaches, in Romans 12:1, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.” Worship involves offering our entire selves to God as a living sacrifice, motivated by his mercy and in accordance with his will.
We worship God because he is worthy and calls us to worship. That is not all though. Worship is not just a command, but it is a response. Worship is how God’s people respond to him. Worship is a response to God’s love. God’s love for his people is not about a feeling, but about his mercy, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, and care for them. David calls out, “I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.” (Psalm 138:2) The word used for ‘steadfast love’ is one that means ‘covenant faithfulness’ and encompasses all of God’s goodness towards his people.
We worship God for his presence. “Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!” (Psalm 96:9) In fact, throughout the scriptures, God’s holiness is a reason to worship him! We find this in Isaiah 6 and in Revelation 4. Simply put, God’s holiness is such that his creatures cannot help but worship him when they encounter it! This is one of the dangers when worship becomes focused on entertainment or becomes a matter of simply going through the motions. We can prepare to worship God by focusing on his holiness.
We worship God for his greatness. He is God and we are not. As we read in Psalm 115:1, Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”
Add to all these things, the wondrous deeds of God! We find them throughout the scriptures. Noah worshiped the Lord when he was delivered through the flood (Genesis 8:20). Abraham worshiped God in response to the covenant promises God had made to him (Genesis 12:7). God’s people worshiped the Lord for their deliverance from Egypt (Exodus 15). We find worshiping God as the right response for his care for those he protected in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:28) and when Daniel himself was protected in the lions’ den (6:26-27). In the New Testament, we find worship as the response for many of Jesus’ healings and even his calling the disciples.
Perhaps the greatest work for which we worship God is Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection! Through faith in Christ, we are saved from our sins. No wonder worship has an outward focus! It’s not about us, but about the one who is worthy. All of this is not to say that worship is meaningless to us. We are created worshiping beings, and so when we do what we are made to do, it is good and right. When worship focuses on us, it can easily lose meaning and we need bigger and better experiences to find satisfaction.
— Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Everett Henes: The purpose of worship
