DUNCAN/How are we to worship?
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Psalm 96 as we continue to work our way through the Fourth Book of the Psalms. We’re in a section of Psalms which gives us an opportunity to think about how we are to worship as Christians. So as we look at this Psalm bearing that in mind, I want us to ask the question, “How are we to worship?” And I want to give three answers to that question. We are to worship with a missionary desire (verses 1 – 3). We are to worship because the Lord is great (verses 4 – 6). And we are to worship in the righteousness of God (verses 7 – 13).
I. A Missionary Desire
First, look at verses 1 – 3, and there is where we see the call to worship. What’s interesting about this call to worship is that it is a call to worship that is not simply aimed at the people of God–that is, those who already confess His name, those who already believe His gospel–but it is addressed to “the peoples…the nations…to all the earth.” In other words, this is a call to worship to all the earth, to all the nations, to all the peoples. This is a call to worship that has a missionary aspect to it.
What I’m wanting you to see here is that the very call to worship is a call that expresses a desire that not only we would worship God, but that all the peoples of the earth would come to worship God through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is an expression of desire that everyone who has life and breath would come by faith to Jesus Christ, believing the gospel, and thus worship the living God. It’s a call to worship that has a missionary aspect to it, and this reminds us that as we gather to worship God, Lord’s Day after Lord’s Day, we too need to have that missionary desire. Our only concern should not be our soul’s communion with the living God. We should desire that the souls of individuals from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation would come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
That is, no Christian can be unconcerned about the work of missions. No Christian can be unconcerned about the work of evangelism. No Christian can be unconcerned about the conversion of those who do not know Jesus Christ. Every Christian in every worship service ought to be desiring that others would come to know Jesus Christ. How are we to worship? We’re to worship with a missionary desire in our hearts.
II. The Greatness of the Lord
Second, we are to worship because the Lord is great. Look at verses 4 – 6. “Great is the Lord…greatly to be praised… [He] made the heavens…splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.” Why are we to worship God? Because of His greatness. And if you don’t know and really believe that the Lord is great, you will not worship Him.
The cause of worship is the greatness of God Himself. God’s own greatness is the compelling reason for our worship, and I want to suggest to you that one of the reasons that our worship is sometimes so flat is because we do not really believe that the Lord is great. There are other things in our lives that are, very frankly, experientially greater than the Lord. There are other things from which we get more satisfaction, more delight, more joy, than the Lord. But the irony is this: even if that is the case, if there are other things in our lives from which we get more satisfaction, more joy, more delight, than the Lord, here’s the irony: those who know true joy in this life are those who get their joy from the greatness of the Lord.
J. Campbell White, the first secretary of the Laymen’s Missionary Movement, once said: “Fame, pleasure and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of His eternal plan. The men who are putting everything into Christ’s undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards.” Do you hear what he’s saying? He’s saying those who treasure God most and those who care most about God’s plan, and thus who invest themselves and give of themselves even sacrificially for God and to those plans, are the people who have the most joy, the most satisfaction, the most delight. Why? Because in the end they’re delighting in God himself and in His works. And that’s what the Psalm says. What’s the cause of our worship? What could possibly compel us to worship God? His greatness!
III. The Righteousness of God
Third, what’s the content of our worship? Look at verses 7 – 13. The content of our worship involves bowing in holiness and awe. When we ask the question, “What should we wear to church?” the answer of Psalm 96 is, “God wants you to wear a holiness of life.”
Notice the phrase: “Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” Now, you know that in the Old Testament the priests had to wear special garments in order to go into the temple or the tabernacle of the Lord. Even as the people of God worshiped, they had to be consecrated in special ways. But this is not asking you to wear some special outfit. This isn’t even a command to wear your Sunday best, although there are many good reasons to do that. This is a command to clothe yourself in the adornment of holiness as you come to worship God. God is holy and requires that we enter His presence in holiness. Now, this shows us why the gospel is absolutely necessary for worship: because we’re not holy. So if we’re going to worship, what has to happen? We have to understand the gospel.
It’s interesting, isn’t it, that Jesus’ first sermon makes the point of Psalm 96:9. What was Jesus’ first sermon? The Gospels give it to us in one verse. How did it go? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Well, why do you need to repent? Because the Judge is holy and you’re not, and the Judge is going to judge justly, and you’re ungodly. And so the only response, if that’s going to be good news, is to repent. Psalm 96:9 is reminding us of this. If we’re going to come in to worship the Lord in holiness, it’s going to entail repentance, because we’re not holy! We need a holiness that doesn’t come from us. We need a holiness that comes from Christ. We need to be clothed in His righteousness if we’re going to come and worship the living God. May God grant that we would all worship this way.
The Rev. Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III is Chancellor and CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary. He can be reached at 601-923-1600 or by email at jhyde@rts.edu.