Worship is heartfelt.
If the psalms are anything to go by (and they are!), then true worship ought to be an intensely emotional experience. It is a problem when worship is spoken of as merely emotional, as it sometimes is in parts of the church, but it is just as much of a problem when emotional experience becomes basically irrelevant in our worship. Genuine worship is and must be heartfelt. Consider the words of King David in Psalm 42, for example:
As pants the deer for flowing streams,So longs my soul, O God, for You.I thirst for God, the living God;When can I meet with God anew?My tears have been my constant foodBoth in the night and in the day,While all day long insistently,“Where is this God of yours?” they say.As I pour out my soul in grief,These things I do remember still:How with the multitude I wentUp to God’s house on Zion hill.In their procession I would leadAs we approached with cheerful song,And shouts of joy and thankfulness,Rejoicing with the festive throng.
- Psalm 42 (Free Church of Scotland, Sing Psalms, p.53)
This psalm was penned at a time when David was unable to worship together with God’s people in the Temple. In that sense, there is an immediate application for us isn’t there? As we are presently restricted from worshipping together, we may immediately reflect on this question: do I miss worshipping God with His people? Not: do I miss seeing the people at church (although that is a good desire too), but: do I miss worshipping? Do I long to declare God’s praises in fellowship with His people? If that longing is not there, then there is an immediate tell-tale sign that something is wrong in our hearts.
Our souls ought to long to be with God in worship – and especially the corporate worship of His saints (as Psalm 42 refers to). We ought to yearn for Him like a deer panting for water. Our heart ought to melt for Him as the heart of a betrothed yearns for her lover (Song 1:1-4). Other psalms do not restrain themselves in their emotional expression either. “Delight yourself in the Lord,” Psalm 37:4 says. Delight! The very word stirs something in the soul doesn’t it? Do you delight in God? Is that the spirit of your worship? “Shout for joy!” Psalm 32:11 says. We are not in the habit of shouting for joy are we? I think I whooped for joy once when I caught a massive fish, but certainly not in church. Psalms 149 and 150 both call us to dance in our praise to God. It’s outside of our worship categories isn’t it? And yet it is well within the worship categories of scripture!
As Jesus said, all the commandments and prophets hang on this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Biblical religion from start to finish is about a communion with God that is heartfelt. God ought to consume our desires and affections; our hearts ought to be enraptured with His love. Without a true engagement of the heart, there can be no worship.
And so, in application we may say: pursue joy in God. If you know it’s not there, confess this to the Lord, and seek His forgiveness (for joy is not an option, but a command! – Philippians 4:4). And in prayerful reliance upon God, then, seek to rejoice in the Lord. Pursue such joy. Meditate on His word day and night (Psalm 1), and the fruit of joy will grow in your life (Galatians 5:22). We ought to repent when we do not rejoice in the Lord, but we also must seek to grow in it as well. In 2005 John Piper did a series of conference messages on this topic entitled: “When I don’t desire God.” A good place to start growing in joy might be to use this online resource! We may be stuck in our homes for now, but there are many fine conferences that we can attend for the building up of our faith in Christ! https://www.desiringgod.org/series/when-i-dont-desire-god/messages
In the Song of Solomon, from the very first verse, we see that the thoughts of the bride revolve around her beloved. “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine.” As the song unfolds, we see two lovers infatuated with one another, extolling one another, revelling in one another. So then let your thoughts dwell upon God, upon all His excellencies and beauties. Let your mind be filled with thoughts of who He is, what He has done for you. The scriptures are resplendent with such testimonies, and provide ample jewels of divine truth for us to pluck, ponder, and admire. For the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul, enlightening the eyes. More to be desired than gold, sweeter than honey (Psalm 19). Let us then revel in the vision of God revealed in scripture, further: let us commune with Him as He speaks to our spirit through its pages. In this, the fruit of joy will grow, and we will not be able to contain ourselves – truly we will realise with the psalmist that “it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting” (Psalm 147:1). Perhaps you will even feel like dancing!
Soli Deo Gloria!