God wants us to sincerely worship Him in spirit and truth. This devotional reading begins looking at what true spiritual worship is.
Nuggets
- True spiritual worship is a duty.
- True spiritual worship focuses on God, not us.
- True spiritual worship is rewarding true submission.
If you were with me for the content part of the Committing to Grow Our Habits study (the last devotion), you know we did an overview of spiritual worship. Where I wanted to go with it was outside the focus of that study.
I found a sermon that will lead us through a comprehensive study of what spiritual worship is. Yes, I know. Sometimes going through other people’s sermons can be a good thing; sometimes, it is a bad thing.
We are going with it being a good thing.
God has been telling Pastor Steve that the Church has been missing Jesus. If we’ve been doing it wrong, we need to find out how to do it right.
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in the Habitual Holiness of Heart and Life theme, click the button below.
Here is a running list of nuggets for the theme.
Devotions in the Finding Jesus through Spiritual Worship study
Here is a running list of nuggets for the study.
The foundation of this series is Menander and Charnock’s Spiritual Worship.
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In this devotion, we’re going to shake up the order of the verses from what they had them.
The Way We Worship
“It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre” (Ps. 92: 1-3 ESV)
True spiritual worship is a duty.
We have an obligation to worship God in spirit.
After Adam and Eve committed the original sin, the ball was in God’s court. He could either condemn them or restore them.
Actually, God did both. He condemned mankind and designed the Plan of Salvation to restore us to Him.
Both responses stem from God’s nature. “But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil. Will you wink at their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they?” (Hab. 1: 13 NLT).
God is pure, so He cannot associate with sin. That is the reason mankind was condemned after the original sin.
But God loves us too much to give up on us. He sent His Son Jesus to be our propitiation. Propitiation means that a substitute is offered to avoid God’s wrath.
Menander said that spiritual worship comes out of God’s concern for the condition of our souls. I can see that.
We usually think about God’s concern for our condition. But we have to be just as concerned.
We not only have to accept God’s Plan of Salvation, but we also have to totally embrace God and how He is calling us to live and worship.
Charnock warned us the result of our choice not to worship God. He wrote, “He that denies worship to be due to God denies His Deity; he that waives spiritual worship, denies His spirituality.”
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So, what does our duty to worship look like? Worship is our personal or corporate response of admiration (confession, thanksgiving, praise, etc.) based on our attitude to God’s presence and our imitation of His character.
Be Thankful
We have much for which to be thankful. That thankfulness must be expressed in our worship.
We are to give thanks in all circumstances in our lives. At times, that seems really hard to do. We lose a loved one, a job, our peace of mind, and our thankfulness goes out the window.
But look what Lewis said. He wrote, “… the natural heart is apparently more susceptible of this Christian grace than of any other, so that they who show right feeling in nothing else have seemed moved at times to gratitude to God.”
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We are more sensitive to thank God than any other spiritual grace. But I wonder how much of that is caught up in we are thankful for the good things.
Does God really need us to thank Him? No. He doesn’t need us to stroke His ego.
Why should we thank God? Wells said it was because thanksgiving not only helps us in this life but also enlarges our spiritual capacity by making it more perceptible. It does this by increasing our love for and confidence in God.
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Doesn’t that make sense? We become freer with our gratitude as our thankfulness increases. We do become more confident that God is Who He says He is and will do what He says He will.
Praise God
The thankfulness should ring through our praise for Him. Praise is our response to God, but it usually involves music.
Why should we worship God? Because it pleases Him. Yes, He enjoys our attempts at worship.
Also, we should worship God because He deserves it. He is our Creator and Redeemer. We would be nothing without Him.
When we try to explain away things through science, that isn’t praising and worshiping God. That is denying His deity.
Yes, He is still God whether we worship Him or not, but it is for our benefit that we do. We gain peace through our worship of Him. It brings us refreshment.
We want to be like the angels and magnify God’s name.
Love God
Wells told us this psalm was sung in the morning Sabbath service. It was sung when the drink offering was given with the offering of the first lamb.
What a reminder that we should love God at the beginning and end of the day — and every moment throughout!
Spurgeon reminded us that we shouldn’t get ritualistic in our worship. True spiritual worship is fresh.
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What ways do we become ritualistic? Well, we can’t change the order of the service, not even to shuffle them around. Then just mention changing the look of the bulletin, and it is considered heresy.
Worse yet is when we become ritualistic because it becomes the same ol’, same ol’. This is one instance when becoming a habit may not necessarily be a good thing.
Spurgeon reminded us about meditating before praying. This is a good habit before worship.
True spiritual worship of God eliminates the discord that sin has caused. We show God our true faith in Him.
The Way We Serve
“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” (Ps. 100: 1-2 ESV)
True spiritual worship focuses on God, not us.
We have to take the focus off ourselves and our selfishness and put it on God. That is what makes the distinction between thanksgiving and praise — it isn’t about us.
This switch of focus occurs as we grow to know God more. This is a part of sanctification. Sanctification is the transformational process of the mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration; gradually changes our nature and morals through the promptings of the Holy Spirit; and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
But it is more than just knowing God. It is changing to become like Him. “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom. 1: 21 ESV).
We honor God with our transformation.
I love what the Homilist said. “Worship is at once the duty of all duties, the service of all services, the joy of all joys.”
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When we come to know God more and more, we find out Who He really is. We find how His character is good.
We want to grow more like Him.
We want to serve Him more. We want to expand His kingdom. We want to be involved in His work.
As we grow to know God more, we can’t keep the worship to ourselves. We have to witness and share.
We have to serve the Lord with gladness. Service is a product of our worship. It can only be a result of our faith in and love of Him. Faith is a gift from God and a work of the Spirit that enhances the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives and distinguishes us from others.
Glossary
Spurgeon reminded us that someone who is walking with God is one with the right mindset to serve. Walking with God means we are humble, reverent, teachable servants of God.
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We know we are serving God because we are no longer under the bandage of sin. That should make us want to jump for joy!
The Way We Submit
“The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut. 30: 9-10 ESV)
True spiritual worship is rewarding true submission.
I always worry when we come across verses like these. We have to make sure we read it the way God intended.
Nowhere in God’s Word does it say we will have a prosperity gospel. We aren’t guaranteed a mansion in this life. We can’t expect no money problems or any other kind of worries.
Don’t get me wrong. God does provide for us. He gives us food, clothing, family – He gives us everything.
Verse 10 tells the requirements for God to reward us for our service to Him.
- Obey the Lord.
- Keep his commandments and his statutes.
- Turn to God with all our heart and soul.
What this verse means is we have to continuously obey Him. We have to submit to Him with all our being.
I know. We’re human. We can’t be 100%-fruit-of-the-Spirit perfect.
When we do disobey and break a law or commandment, we ask God for forgiveness. Asking God for forgiveness is a form of worship.
Charnock reminded us that spiritual worship is always expected by God. I read that to say that there is never a holiday for worshiping Him. His disciples are expected to worship Him 24/7/365/eternity.
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There is a big difference between Old Testament worship to New Testament worship. Before Christ, worship was all wrapped up in the laws and commandments.
Unfortunately, the people in those days didn’t realize there was no way we could keep them. They didn’t see that the law’s purpose was to show us our need for a Savior.
These days, some don’t like the idea that we need someone else to save us. That is too simplistic for them.
What is required now is a relationship with God. Yes, He wants us to submit to Him, but He also wants us to be in communication and communion with Him.
Making the Connections
Spurgeon made an interesting comment. He wrote, “The more hypocritical a people are, the more solemnly miserable their outward aspect when at worship.”
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Hmmm. What is the best word for hypocritical? Insincere? Two-faced? Phony?
Yeah, they all say about the same thing, but they can have different nuances. I can see insincere as meaning some of it but not all. Phony is just plain false.
No, that is the opposite of true spiritual worship.
True worship is sincere reverence to God.
How Do We Apply This?
- Be thankful always.
- Meditate before worship and prayer.
- Praise God in the morning.
- Be thankful in the evening.
- Worship God daily.
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Father God. Forgive us for not worshiping You in spirit and in truth. Show us how to fully submit to You and fill our worship with praise and thankfulness. Amen.
What do you think?
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