The True Focus of Worship

This is the continuation of a series of speeches given by youth on various topics for a speaker's tournament.

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“There is no other who can grab a hold of my heart like you can when you whisper in my ear that you love me. I wanna dance with you…in the bright moonlight; just you and I, let’s run away together.” Most of you probably think that those lyrics come from a typical boy-girl love song, but believe it or not, those words actually are taken from a worship song. What is my point? I am by no means questioning the intimate relationship with God that is being sung about. Worship is intimacy with God. What I am saying, however, is that so often we remember only half of the infinite God of the universe. Yes, we know that he is the Lord of love, and yes, we know that He is the God of intimacy, but we must not forget that He is holy and that we are sinful. He is mighty and we are weak. He is the God of Isaiah 40:22 who “sits above the circle of the earth and its habitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in”. Until we begin to grasp a true, complete perception of God, our worship will not be pleasing to Him.

Before we talk about how we worship, we have to look at why we worship. Throughout the Bible, it is very evident that worship is not optional. From the Old Testament in Nehemiah 8:6, when the people worship with their faces to the floor, to the book of Revelation, when angels bow before God, worship has been desired by God. Deuteronomy 6:13 says “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Through the death of Christ, we have been reconciled. We can confidently commune with God. We must not forget that our worship begins at the foot of the cross, and is only possible because of it. As AW Tozer put it, “We are saved to worship God. All that Christ has done for us in the past and all that He is doing now leads to this one end.”

Now, if we truly understand the amazing grace which the Father showed us through the saving death of Christ, then we will realize how undeserving we are as sinners. Likewise, if we truly recognize the sovereignty and holiness of the mighty God, then we will also grasp the finite, perishable specks of dust that we are. When we begin to possess a low view of ourselves, then our view of the holy God will be that much higher, and that is, in essence, the true focus of worship.

The word “worship” in the Bible translates to the Hebrew word shachah, meaning literally “to bow down oneself” or “falling prostrate” before God. However, this word does not merely speak of the outward action of bowing down, but more importantly of the inward humbling of the heart. For worshippers to gain an accurate high view of God, then it must begin in the heart. We can never fool God with our outward actions of worship. His true focus is our hearts.

But what does the Father look for in the hearts of His worshippers? In Isaiah 66:2 God tells us that “this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.” Pastor and theologian John Piper defines this humility as “a trembling love for the majesty of God and secondarily a trembling sense of our sin and smallness and dependence.” At the very foundation of worship is humility. It is how we are to worship! When we recognize the need for total dependency on God and not in ourselves, then we can give fully.

Let me conclude with this. In Isaiah 6, the prophet Isaiah enters the temple and God is revealed in His glory to him. The passage describes how the train of His robe fills the temple, with God seated on the throne, and how the seraphim are crying to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” It is simply an overwhelming picture. We see Isaiah’s response in verse 5, which reads: “And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Isaiah’s only response is “Woe is me!” – meaning “Curse me!” When the transcendent holiness of God is revealed to Isaiah, the righteous prophet of God, he becomes undone by his own wretchedness in the presence of the King. Isaiah understands his place as a sinner, a man of “unclean lips”, and can only respond with humility and worship. This is the example that we should follow. This is the true focus of worship.