“Give unto the Lord the glory due unto
his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the
beauty of holiness.” – 1 Chronicles 16:29
The
practice of God’s people gathering together to worship the Lord is found
throughout the scriptures. The Jews
gathered for Passover in Jerusalem, David danced before the Lord, Ezra read the
law in sight of all the people. Fast
forward, we have Pentecost, and then the establishing of Christian churches. Throughout the Bible, God’s people gathered
together to worship him.
The practice of gathering to worship has continued on even until
now. Seldom do you hear Christians
question the value in this, perhaps because the value is so evident. There is strength in numbers, there is value
in meeting, singing, and sharing what God has done for you. However, if the emphasis and validity of
worship rest solely on the gathering, and what is done at such gathering; then
your worship will be forever shallow.
What worship truly is will be forever lost you. True worship must be an inward experience
before it can be an outward one. Throughout
the world and within America itself we find elements of worship but not the
very thing itself. Not the true worship
that Jesus talked about and God intended.
We see men and women gathering to a: sports team, band, or a specific person
of fame. They show reverent love for
that person or entity and would gladly devote their time, money, and energy to
glimpse their glory. There are men who
worship their women and women who worship their man. The worship of money, recognition, government
officials, ideals, patriotism. There are
elements of worship without the church and within the church. Perhaps the one that cuts the closest is the
worship of the experience of worship: the songs, the crowd, the rising emotion;
the notion is such that unless you have these things then you have failed to
worship. We find elements of worship,
but only false worship, counterfeit.
Worship is not that which is without, but that which is within. Worship is not a production or theater; it is
the sunflower seeking to bask in the warmth of the Son and the mountains
climbing to touch the heavens. The whole
of their existence is to give glory unto the Lord. Granted, what is within may well produce what
is without, i.e. singing, rising of hands, rising emotion, etc. But that is not the emphasis. It cannot be, else one day your worship will
run dry, and swiftly turn false. Thankfully,
God gives us direction in all things and he calls us to worship “in Spirit and in truth”; he calls us to
worship the “Lord in the beauty of
holiness”.
God seeks this worship.
Firstly, because he is due it. He
IS worthy of the truest and most fervent worship we can offer. One must marvel at the extravagance and
expense some will go to in an attempt to glorify a star or a team. What is this on the scale of eternity? How much more does the God of the universe, the
God that sent His only Son to die for you and I; how much more worthy is Christ
and God of your worship? He is due
it. God seeks such to worship, secondly,
because true worship brings mankind to its best state. When you worship God in the beauty of
holiness it requires and follows that you must be in His holiness. Thereby bringing you into the highest
possible plain you can achieve. By our
might and power? No, not hardly, rather
by the power of Christ within. He can
banish the sin and elevate man into adoption with His dear Son. We become heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ when we offer ourselves, the first-fruits of our entire being; this we
bring to God in reference each and every day.
Why? Because we love Him and
worship him.
The beauty of holiness within is what the beauty of the earth is
without. The beauty of the earth
testifies to the glory of God. The
majesty of it all bending to his will in worship. The beauty of holiness within testifies to
the glory of God and the bending of your will to Him in worship. This genuine experience of the heart brings
about genuine, true worship and it manifest itself. It manifest itself: at times in singing, or
raising your hands, or crying, or in the quite place. It manifest itself in many different
ways. Thank God for worship! Collectively, individually, within and
without the church. Thank God for
worship. Let us gather, let us pray, let
us seek…..let us everyone: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
