The etymological root of the word 'worship' is worth-ship. I think that's helpful to remember when we consider what it means to worship God. In our worship we are declaring his worth. Acts 2:11 comes to mind. At Pentecost, the people observing those recently anointed by the Holy Spirit are amazed: "We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." The same could be said by us when we read the testimony of the grateful psalmist of Psalm 116: "We hear him telling of his mercifully deliverance when he cried out, 'O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!'"
God's worth is on our tongues when we recount his attributes, his works, his faithfulness. We know his worth because we have experienced first hand the result of believing in him. We are humbled by election, dumbfounded by justification, encouraged by sanctification, and bolstered by promised glorification. These gospel realities we can appreciate by pondering what God has revealed in this word, and they are sufficient to provoke us to declare his worth every day. But the psalmist offers additional cause for expressing worship -- God's intimate, merciful, and sufficient answer to prayer. If you would closely read that beautiful psalm, I am confident you will sense the vital relationship that he shares with the Lord. He was desperate, in anguish, feeling the tentacles of death ensnaring him, and he knew that he was partly to blame for the situation he found himself in. His naiveté made him vulnerable to unscrupulous men (v. 6 & 11). Nevertheless, in faith he cried out to God for deliverance, and God "inclined his ear," and heard his "pleas for mercy." Fresh fuel for passionate worship. As a result, he vows, "I will call on him as long as I live . . . I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living."
This kind of lively faith, a faith that animates our daily walk, brings an immediacy to our worship when we gather each Lord's Day. We have fresh evidence of his worth to make known to the congregation. We have experienced anew his love for us, his faithfulness to his promises, his intention to carry us through each day, each circumstance, until we come to stand before him face-to-face. The psalmist learned this and we can hear how it caused him to worship: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."
If you have such a declaration to make, make it in church this Sunday. Come ready to declare among your fellow saints God's worth-ship!
