WISE WORSHIP
1 Chron. 29:10-13
“10 David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. 11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. 13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.”
Worship, like most things exists as a continuum. And, like most other things, the most satisfying place on that continuum is not at either extreme but at the center. Look at the illustration below:
Notice that on the far left you see "Religion without Relationship." It is here that you find formal, ceremonial, ritualistic religion. Here you find a kind of dead orthodoxy that makes the true living and loving God unapproachable. It is the kind of religion that Paul described to Timothy as "having a form of godliness but denying its power." -- 2 Tim. 3:5. At the far right of our continuum you see "Relationship without Reverence." Here God is your buddy -- who gives you whatever you want and overlooks all your flaws. What is absent is the "fear of the Lord," which the Bible teaches us is "the beginning of wisdom." --Ps. 111:10.
So what is "Wise Worship"?
First of all, it is a worship that recognizes God's greatness, power, glory, majesty, and splendor. It is a worship that acknowledges the sovereignty of God; that realizes the "He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth." --Dan. 4:35. It is a worship that admits that He alone is worthy of our praise, our thanks, our obedience and our allegiance. It is a worship that proclaims that our fellowship with the Father is only possible because of what Christ Jesus has done for us. Because He loved us enough to cover our sin with His own blood and earn our justification through His own obedience, to redeem us and call us to be His church and His bride, and to give us the gift of everlasting life.
Make no mistake about it; your God is an awesome God. He stands above every created thing and His power and glory are truly humbling. But He also loves you and has called you to Himself so that He might have fellowship with you and call you friend. "This is what the high and lofty One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." -- Isa. 57:15.
--- Pastor Keith Andrews