Why should we worship God?

Thank God, it is not being merely saved from the consequences of our sins that will suit the heart of the blessed God, wonderful and necessary as that is, and we ought never to lose the wonder of it. But God desires our company, and to be consciously in His presence means worship. Worship is the highest exercise the creature is capable of. Not only are we saved, but we are brought to God, and “accepted in the Beloved”—sons before the Father’s face, priests in association with the Son of God, our great High Priest.

The habits of a vast number of Christians, and the moral atmosphere in which they are placed, have tended to produce very vague notions as to worship. Having turned away from formalism and superstitious views, which left the care of their religion to others, and feeling the need in which they stood of the truth, they have found in the recognition of the truth — in hearing and owning it — the sum total of their ordinary religious exercises. But surely this is not all that should be included in our religion while here below. In heaven, doubtless, the truth will be known in all its perfectness. Truth, now received into the heart, will be actually realized there in the presence of the glory of God, and of the Saviour, about whom the truth treats. There will be no longer any need of hearing the truth — we shall live in it, and the power of it in our hearts will be expressed in adoration. Such is the characteristic of heaven. And, undoubtedly, this should be realized in some measure while on earth, by those who have received the truth, and who by it enjoy the knowledge of God who has communicated it, and of the Saviour who came to accomplish his work of love and of righteousness on our behalf; it should be realized by those who have received, not only the truth, but the very Spirit who gave the truth its place in their hearts, and who gives them the desire of glorifying Him whom it has revealed. When the Holy Spirit communicates heavenly truth to the renewed heart, it always re-ascends in thanksgiving and praise. True worship is but the grateful and joyful response of the heart to God, when filled with the deep sense of the blessings which have been communicated from on high. The Holy Spirit causes the feelings produced by the revelation of God — of His glory — of His love in Jesus, and of all the blessings with which He loadeth us, to re-ascend to God in adoration. And, surely, the heart which is penetrated with the grace of God, will find delight in rendering back to Him the homage of its adoration and gratitude for all these blessings, which are so many proofs of the infinite and eternal love which He has for us.

Worship is the grateful and joyful response and over flow of the heart to God when filled with the deep sense of the blessings which have been given from Him. It is giving Him the honor, adoration, praise and thanksgiving which is His due because of what He is in Himself and because of what He has done and does do for us. Praises, thanksgivings and the making mention of the at tributes of God and of His acts in the attitude of adoration is what constitutes worship.

Some may not know what worship is. Do you think it is merely going on your knees and saying your prayers, or coming to hear the Gospel preached? To worship is to render what is worthy, but in prayer you ask for the supply of need, and in hearing you come for instruction. In worship the soul gives to God that of which He is worthy. Many Christians are more like beggars than worshippers. We may have our needs; but have we not more mercies than necessities? Worship is the enjoyment of God’s company, delight in His love, giving back to Him what He has first given me. If we only lived more fully in this consciousness that our cup is flowing over, as in Psalm 23, we would beg less and worship more. The Father knows our need, but He seeks our worship. Dear fellow Christians may our hearts flow over with streams of gratitude.

Worship is so commonly associated in people's minds with external ceremonies that the fact is sometimes overlooked that true worship is a thing of the heart, an emotion of the soul. Prayer is a blessed exercise for all who realise their weakness and need; thanksgiving is comely for those who have received great things from God; but worship is a higher sentiment than any of these, because it contemplates not His works only, but God Himself — His perfections and glories. Our English word is simply a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon "worthship," which means ascribing honour to one who is worthy.

And what is worship but thanksgiving and praise? Thanksgiving for what God has done in Christ and gives freely to us who believe; praise for what we know by His word and Spirit He is, not only to us, but in Himself, His majesty, holiness, truth, goodness, mercy, love, and delight in us, the eternal self-existing One, now revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?

The worship of God has been described as 'the honour and adoration which are rendered to Him by reason of what He is in Himself, and what He is to those who render it.' It is pre-supposed that the worshipper has some relation with God, and that the order of service or worship is prescribed. The Israelites had been redeemed out of Egypt by God, and thus as a ransomed people could draw near to His appointed place to worship according to His order. The Psalmist could say, "O come let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation . . . . for the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods . . . . O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand." Ps. 95:1-7.

Worship is the act of bowing[1] before God (see Q.16), acknowledging and expressing His worthiness: who He is, His attributes, and His character. See, for instance, Revelation 5:9: ‘Thou art worthy'. In this sense, worship involves offering or presenting something to God (Q.13).

They that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth, and the Father seeketh such to worship Him. John 4:24. They delight in what He is: they "joy in God," and they love Him. To worship 'in spirit' is to worship according to the true nature of God, and in the power of that communion which the Holy Spirit gives. It thus stands in contrast to worship consisting in forms and ceremonies, and to the religiousness of which the flesh is capable. To worship 'in truth' is to worship God according to the revelation which He has been pleased to give of Himself. It would not therefore now be worshipping God 'in truth' to worship Him simply as 'a great God,' 'our Maker,' and 'a great King above all gods,' as in Psalm 95; for He has been pleased to reveal Himself in another light, even as 'Father' to those who are His. They enter into His presence in the spirit of sonship, and in the sense of the love which has given them a place before Him in Christ, as sons according to His good pleasure: the sense of this love, and of the good pleasure of God in having us before Him in Christ, is the spring of worship. The Father and the Son are known, the Father's will is that the Son should be honoured as revealing the fountain of love, and the Son leading the hearts of the many sons into the Father's love. Worship is thus distinguished from ascriptions of praise and thanksgiving: it is the homage of love. Rom. 8:15.

340 The woman now turns to worship. The Lord tells her that salvation was of the Jews; the Samaritans worshipped they knew not what; but the hour was coming, and now was, when the true worshippers should worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for it was no longer a question of what man ought to be for God, but of what God is for the sinner. "The Father seeketh such to worship him." As for man's worship, it was all worthless. You may get a machine to do ceremonies if you only are clever enough to make one. As we read in the prophet of the outward worship of Israel. God calls it, "bowing the head like a bulrush." It is utterly worthless. You must have to do with God who knows you, and whom you must know if you would worship Him in spirit and in truth. It is not God requiring worship - all very true, as man's duty - but the Lord is here in grace, and out of the abundance of His heart He says, "The Father seeketh" worshippers. He is not regarding forms of worship, but He is seeking vile, broken-down sinners to make them worshippers. He is not seeking the Pharisee: his worship proceeds out of himself; he thanks God for what he is.