Declaring God's Worth - The Heart of Worship

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!

Preservation, Purification, Protection

Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5, concerning the church, that God "has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation" (v. 9). This is the gospel stated in its most succinct form. Those who are in union with Christ are saved from the dreadful day of judgment. And as is evident in God's dealings with Israel, he keeps his word. He preserves for himself a people who will experience the fullness of his mercy. But as is also evident in his dealings with Israel, the blissful destination doesn't guarantee a blissful journey. A lot of divine effort goes into protecting and preserving God's elect. The closing verses of Micah 5 give insight into the process, a process that's focused on fulfilling the 1st command, "You shall have no other gods before me," a process that roots out the enemy within and defeats the enemies without. 

First he attacks "horses," "chariots" and "strongholds." These were entities in which Israel trusted to keep the enemies at bay and their future secure. Then he purposes to "cut off sorceries," false sources of discernment and insight. Next he intends to destroy "carved images . . . pillars . . . cities," objects and centers of idolatry. All of these work to undermine the singular devotion and trust that God's people should have in him as the one who redeemed them from slavery and made of them a kingdom of priests. 

His protection also includes dealing with the external enemies of his people. The people of God have always been under threat. As I write, there is significant persecution being perpetrated against the elect in parts of the world. Nevertheless, God will not allow any nation to have the final say about their destiny. He states that "in anger and wrath" he will "execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey." Dictators may flex their nationalistic muscles or pious murderers may wield their sacred swords, but they will not prevail over God's intention to have for himself a people who will enjoy his presence eternally. 

Of course, the one shepherding this process is the Bethlehem-born Messiah who stands "in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God." And because of the protection he affords, "they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth" (5:4). 

As Paul urges, let's "encourage one another and build one another up" as we consider Yahweh's gracious goal for his people (1 Thess. 5:11).

Love for the Lord's Anointed

Much has been made in recent scholarship of the relationship between David and Jonathan. Revisionists, looking for a way to baptize their own desires, label it homosexual. The absurdity of this notion becomes readily apparent when we remember that David is described as one of God’s choosing, a man after his own heart, a king who would rule as God would have a king to rule. Even a cursory glance at the expectations that God had for a king would note that he expected the would-be king to know and be submitted to the Law of Moses (see Deuteronomy 17). Current apologists for homosexuality themselves recognize that the Law of Moses is not kind toward homosexual activity. To suggest then that David and Jonathan enjoyed a sexualized male-to-male relationship is to suggest nonsense.

The stumbling block for these folks is the strong language that characterizes Jonathan’s love for David (see 1 Samuel 18). But the real reason for Jonathan’s love for David was Jonathan’s love for God. He saw in David a kindred spirit, a man who loved God and possessed great faith that God would defend his name.

Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, echoed this exemplary response to the presence of the Lord’s anointed (see John 12). Like Jonathan to David, her soul was knit to the Lord’s anointed and she responded with devotion and love. To the contrary are the responses of Saul and the Pharisees. They saw in the exploits of the Lord's anointed reasons to hate and fear, and they plotted to destroy the object of their wrath. But it was not to be. God was with David, and God was with Jesus. The plans of the jealous come to naught as God's plans overrule.

These disparate responses are worthy of contemplation. And rather than finding ways to minimize their impact by suggesting, for instance, that Jonathan's love for David was coupled with lust, we should ask for the grace to see the Lord's anointed as Jonathan and Mary saw him, worthy of total devotion.