Does God Demand Our Worship?

This week we are asking the question "Does worship really matter?" To answer that question we are looking at the playlist of worship of the Jewish people, which is recorded for us in a letter in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Psalms. Yesterday, we saw a man named David reveal for us the profound truth that the Heavens are telling the glory of God.

In other words, the universe that God created is actively worshipping the Lord in a way the recounts the splendor, radiance, and majesty of the Lord. The universe declares and provides the evidence of God’s character and activity in the world. The start of every day speaks in a way that informs us of the glory of God. The activity of the universe during every evening declares its knowledge of the greatness and splendor of God

Even if every human being on the planet refused to worship the Lord, the Lord would not be lacking in worship. Even if every angelic being refused to worship the Lord, the Lord would not be lacking worship. The Lord would not be lacking worship because the entire created universe worships the Lord. The entire universe worships the Lord in a way that recounts and declares the splendor, radiance and majesty of the Lord. Today, we see another song on this playlist of worship of the Jewish people, which is found in Psalm 96:1:

Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

Here the Psalmist commands the Jewish people and the entire earth to sing to the Lord a new song. Now the Psalmist is not commanding humanity to write a new worship song every day to sing to the Lord. Instead he is commanding humanity to live every single day as an act of worship to the Lord. When the psalmist uses the word bless here, this word bless means to praise.

In addition, to proclaim good tidings conveys the sense of proclaiming and making known how the Lord is actively at work in the world to bring rescue and repair to lives of those who were once separated from God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion. The Psalmist is commanding humanity to tell of the splendor, radiance, and majesty of the Lord as seen in His extraordinary activity in the world that provides humanity the opportunity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for.

Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well Dave, why is the psalmist commanding us to worship the Lord? I mean, that sounds like the Lord demands our worship?” We see the psalmist provide the answer to that question in verses 4:

  For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

Here we see the psalmist reveal for us the reality that the reason why he was commanding humanity to worship the Lord was due to the fact that there is only One being that is deserving of our worship. And that One being is the Lord.  Every other object of worship that people were placing as highest value in their lives was a part of creation that was a false and faulty god.  

However, the Lord is the Creator of the universe. The Lord alone was worthy of being the object of worship that people were placing of highest value in their lives because the Lord alone demonstrated the splendor, majesty, power and beauty that was deserving of worship.

Instead of worshipping the creation, which as we saw in Psalm 19, worships the Lord, humanity is to respond by living a life that views Him as being of ultimate value and worth as the Creator of everything that exists. And because of that reality, we see the Psalmist say the following in verse 7-13:

 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name; Bring an offering and come into His courts. Worship the LORD in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity." Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before the LORD, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.

Now when the Psalmist uses the word ascribe here, this word literally means to give. So the Psalmist here is commanding humanity to give to the Lord the honor and power that He alone is deserving of as the Lord. When the psalmist uses the word worship, this word literally means to bow down. In addition, when the psalmist uses the phrase holy attire, he is not referring to dressing up in a suit.

Instead, this phrase literally means the splendor of His holiness. The psalmist is referring to the splendor of the Lord’s unique otherness that sets Him apart as being distinctly different from the rest of the creation. The psalmist here is commanding humanity to worship the Lord by bringing humanity back to the definition of worship, which is a life that is lived in a way that is focused on and that responds to God’s character and activity in the world so as to value the Lord supremely.

The psalmist then reveals the reality that, just as we saw in Psalm 19, the creation worships and makes much of the Lord as a result of the awesome acts of God’s activity in the creation that will come to fulfillment upon Jesus return to earth. At the end of God’s story here on earth, Jesus will return to usher in the kingdom of Heaven in its fullest sense and to judge with justice all of humanity.

We see this reality revealed for us in a section of the very final letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Revelation. Friday, we will jump into the book of Revelation together...