Worship: the fruit of a true relationship with God.
There’s a difference between talking, and talking. For example, there is a kind of irreverent talking that leads people into more and more ungodliness, and it is to be avoided (2 Timothy 2:16). On the other hand, there is a talking that heals (Proverbs 12:18), that is like choice silver (Proverbs 10:20). The same distinction carries over into our worship as we speak with God. Worship, properly considered, is an actual relational engagement. Like a wife speaking words of affection for her husband, like a child seeking the help of a parent – worship is a relational expression from us to God. In last week’s meditation, I talked about worship as being an “act,” it is not vague and indistinct, it is definite and specific. One of the specific points about worship is that it is a relational exchange.
Now when I say that worship is speaking with God, expressing something to Him, I must quickly add that this can be faked. Where words are heaped upon words, for example, and God does not listen (Matthew 6:7). True worship is worship that is in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). Now I want to address that some more next week, but we’re seeing the truth here now aren’t we? Worship really is a true relational exchange, made in the context of an actual relationship that we have with God.
Building on this foundation, it’s important to say that worship is not our relationship with God, just as talking is not a marriage. Worship is part of the relationship, it’s an aspect of the whole. In the relationship between parents and children, there are all sorts of things that happen. There is laughter as dad picks up the little boy, there is the sneaky and naughty drawing on the walls with crayons, and there is nearness as a mother comforts the one who has fallen over and hurt themselves. So many aspects and dimensions in one single relationship! Those are just a few micro-examples. Now our relationship with God works in the same way. There are all sorts of things involved in knowing God. For example, He disciplines us, He provides for us, we enjoy His gifts, and there are countless other parts of the relationship as well. And so – again – worship is but one aspect of this overall relationship (if a significant one!).
Now having said that, let me build further and say that worship is a duty in our relationship with God. In Matthew 4:10 we read: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve” (Matthew 4:10). That’s an imperative! Worship is also something that is enabled by God. In Ephesians 1 we learn that God set His love upon us from before the creation of the world. That’s profound isn’t it? Our worship really started before the world began! But not only is worship a duty, and enabled by God, it is also a response of love. Sexual intimacy between a husband and wife is a duty (1 Corinthians 7:1-5), but it also ought to be a joyful expression of love! (see Song of Songs). So it is with worship. God so loved the world (John 3:16)… He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7)… and we respond in loving adoration to Him (Ps 30:4). And so I hope you’re really seeing that our worship finds its place as part of our relationship with God.
Now most of us as reformed Christians would recognize that a relationship with God is fundamental to our faith. But the rubber hits the road when we ask: do I have that relationship? And it becomes even more real when we ask: what does this relationship look like in real-world terms? In a crucial and necessary way, one essential aspect of what it looks like is: worship. Worship is an essential fruit of a real relationship with God. By the fruit of our lives the proof of our soul is revealed (Matthew 7:16), and so where there is no worship, there is a real question mark over the reality of the relationship. If we don’t worship God, really worship Him – enjoying Him and delighting ourselves in Him, or at least desiring to grow in that when our hearts are cold – then we should doubt whether we have a relationship with God. On the other side, as we do worship Him in spirit and in truth, or we long to worship and are grieved by our cold hearts, there is an undeniable weight and reality to the relationship, and our hearts are assured (1 John 2:3).
It’s good then to examine where our heart is in worship. Do we experience real joy and delight in worship? As we sing God’s praises, is our heart truly moved? The exuberance of the psalmist almost feels embarrassing doesn’t it? Psalm 149:3 “praise His name with dancing, making melody to Him with tambourine and lyre!” And yet it shouldn’t embarrass us! It should resonate with us! For we have been loved by the King of Heaven! Creator of all things! We are in relationship with Him, and our worship ought to truly reflect that. Let me explore this from another angle, because this is important.
At present, we have been unable to meet in person and worship God due to the pandemic. Worshipping Him together is the highest expression of worship, and so Psalm 42 should and will be the experience of a heart that worships: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” These words were penned at a time when David could not worship – just as we cannot today. And so here is another gauge by which we may test our relationship with God. As we have been restricted from worship, do you long to go back? Or have you been quite enjoying the break, and are not really looking forward to worship again? If the answer is the former, give thanks to God. If the answer is the latter, then there is good reason to question your relationship with God. But do not stop at questioning, instead pour out your soul in repentance, confess the hardness of your heart to Him, ask for His mercy – and you shall have it! Only do not remain content in apathy toward worshipping the true and living God, for in truth that reveals an apathy toward God Himself. If we continue in such a pattern of live, then we do deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 2:4). All those who continue in such a position will find a rude awakening on the Great Day of Judgment. Brothers and sisters, so then flee apathy in worship! Seek the Lord now while He may be found – and He will be found of you! Today is the acceptable day of salvation.
Now lest sincere believers among you find yourselves discouraged at these words, let me offer a word of consolation by saying: there will be ups and downs between us and God. Our worship will be woefully inadequate and tainted by sin in this life. While there is sin in our hearts, this will continue to be the sad reality in this life (1 John 1:8-9). At times we will come to worship with stone-cold hearts. Even a whole season of hardness in worship is possible. And so in this sense we need to recognize that there is a continual journey into worship that we must take, one of ongoing repentance and seeking God, increasingly growing in the joy of the Lord and battling against coldness and unbelief. That will be part of the saint’s experience in worship. So then, if you find hardness in your heart in worship, do not despair, rather confess this coldness to God, and He will again forgive you! This is the glory of the gospel and the wonder of His compassion! God is kind and merciful to sinners! Nevertheless, if all we have known in worship is a cold heart with our affections unmoved, and we have no desire to repent of that, then you may well never have had a relationship with God. If that is the case, the answer is the same: turn now and repent! Worship the Lord your God with all that is within you, sinful and broken though your worship doubtless is. Worship is relational, and can only function when there is a real relationship with God. As we draw near then to God through Christ, believing in Him, may the Lord continually open our eyes to see and behold His beauty, that we may truly worship Him!
Soli Deo Gloria!