1. What constitutes real worship?
2. Does prayer or praise enter into real worship?
3. How am I to view the Lord in regard to worship, which seems to me to be a peculiar honor due to God as Father? —DUDLEY
WORSHIP is that spontaneous uprising of the heart, that outflow of homage, which is provoked in the subjects of redemption by the knowledge and enjoyment of God Himself, as He has been made known to us in Jesus. It may, or may not, express itself in words, but it must be “in spirit and in truth.”
It must be in spirit in contrast with that which is merely outward in the flesh, consisting in matters of ceremony and bodily posture; in contrast also with that emotional enthusiasm which might be spoken of as being in soul. All that concerns religious emotion and bodily posture is very dear to the heart of the ritualist but it is far removed from that worship in spirit which alone is true worship. It is also true of course that we can only worship in spirit by the Spirit of God. This is what Philippians 3:3,3For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. (Philippians 3:3) tells us, for the better attested reading there is, “who worship by the Spirit of God.”
It must also be in truth; that is, in the light of that wonderful revelation of things as they really are which has reached us in Christ, for, “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:1717For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)). Now that we have this perfect revelation of God in Jesus, worship to be true and acceptable must be in the light of that revelation. We cannot set aside, or even ignore, that revelation and worship God in the light of Sinai, and much less in the dim light of creation, or nature, as it is sometimes called. This completely sets aside the so-called worship of the rationalist. Men may talk of going forth among the beauties of nature in order to worship the Almighty Creator, but if that be all they know of Him they cannot offer true worship.
Prayer, praise and worship have this in common, that in all three we address ourselves to God; but in prayer we do so as making requests of Him; in praise we tell forth His glory as expressed in His acts but in such a way that others may hear us; in worship we pour forth our adoration in a way intended for His ear alone. Though distinct, all three may be very closely intertwined in our experience. We may get upon our knees and pass from one to the other in the course of a very few minutes. An illustration of the difference between praise and worship may be found in Revelation 5. Praise is offered by myriads of angels and by every creature in verse 11 to 13. They speak ABOUT Him in the third person. It is “Worthy is the Lamb... Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, unto Him... and unto the Lamb.” Worship is rendered by the four and twenty elders in verses 9,10 and 14. They address themselves directly TO Him in the second person. It is “Thou art worthy... Thou wast slain.”
Worship is certainly a peculiar honor due to God, and it is as Father that we worship Him. This we are told in John 4:2323But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:23). But then the very next chapter tells us, “That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him.” (vs. 23). Hence we cannot really worship the Father if we do not worship the Son. In keeping with this, we have just seen that the One who sits on the throne and the Lamb were equally and jointly the Objects of worship in Revelation 5.
It is equally true of course that the Lord Jesus is become our great High Priest. One of the chief reasons for His becoming Man was that He might assume this great office. It is through Him that we offer our praises to God, indeed in this character we may view Him as the Leader of our praise and worship. But this does not in the least militate against the fact that being God He Himself is the worthy Object of our worship; any more than the fact of His having become Man militates against the fact that He is God.
We quite understand your feeling a certain difficulty in putting these things together, but do you not see that it is really just the difficulty that meets us everywhere in connection with our blessed Lord and Saviour, owing to the fact that being God He has become Man? Our wisdom is to maintain both sides in faith and love. The difficulty is often more of an intellectual than a practical sort. We do not ourselves find much difficulty when with others we have come before the Lord for praise and worship. Do you?