On Wednesday evenings after CrossPoint University, I meet with a small group of men to discuss a book pertaining to systematic theology.  We have been discussing the 1291 page tome for nearly two years.  This last Wednesday the chapter topic was worship.

Worship can be difficult term to define.  The very practice of worship can be even more difficult to understand and practice.  During the discussion, two of the men shared their personal insights into worship.

One man wondered aloud what the opposite of “consumer-driven worship” would be.  As discussion ensued, he answered his own question.  His summary response was clear.  The worshiper is either a consumer or they are consumed.

Do you get it?  You are either a consumer of worship or you are consumed by the One you are worshipping.  I suspect most worshipers are consumer worshipers.  They want to sing their favorite songs and then listen to a message tailored to their particular needs.  While a small minority, understand that worship is a command issued by God not for consumption but to consumer you.

True worship has nothing to do with our tastes, preferences or desires.  True worship is God-centered, Spirit-led and Christ-focused.

Later in the discussion another friend provided an acrostic for worship he had developed last year.  The acrostic was the result of a CrossPoint Bible Study lesson.

His description of worship included:

W… wholeness: all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
O… obedience: follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
R… repentance: ask for forgiveness of your sins.
S… salvation: know that Jesus is the only way to heaven.
H… humility: serve God for His glory, not yours
I… investment: give of your time, talent and treasure
P… prayer: communicate with God

Worship is a spiritual exercise.  When we worship we are entering into the spiritual realm.  Thus, to worship the Lord Jesus properly we must be spiritually prepared and equipped to worship.  May I suggest you take some time Saturday evening and then again Sunday morning to prepare to enter into the spiritual realm of worship this weekend?

1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When shall I come and appear before God?

Psalm 42:1-2

Psalm 42 is instructed to be given to the choir leader.  In most Bibles there is a caption beneath the chapter heading that reads, “To the choirmaster.  A Maskil for the sons of Korah.”

The ESV Bible notes a “Maskil” is “probably a musical or liturgical term.” A Maskil is something for the choir director to lead the people of God in singing.  It is to be a part of their corporate expression of worship.

I find Psalm 42 intriguing because it is given to the choir director by the sons of Korah for the purpose of leading the people of God in corporate worship.  And who were these sons of Korah?

The sons of Korah were special Levites; they were Levites who had responsibilities as temple servants and musicians (1 Chronicles 9).  We see “Sons of Korah” every Sunday at CrossPoint.  Each weekend CrossPoint’s Worship Leader, Bryan Haskins, has temple servants and musicians working along with him, playing instruments, singing songs and administering the media in worship.

One writer speculates that this Psalm is the lament of one of these temple Levites who was way off in the north of Israel, separated from the temple and from the people of God and from the worship which he has had the glorious privilege of leading in.  And he is longing to be back at God’s house, and he is turning his longing into a prayer and a song of faith and hope in God Himself.  But whatever the case it is, whoever this is, this believer has been kept from the house of God and from the worship of God, and he is in spiritual torture over it.

When was the last time you longed to see the face of God?

Look at verse 2: “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

Longing to see the face of God, this is the desire of his heart.  The writer of this psalm yearns to see the face of God, to appear before God in the worship of the sanctuary.  This believer, whoever he is, has a right estimation of the value of corporate worship.  He seeks through the corporate worship of the people of God, to encounter the living God, to appear before the living God, to see the face of the living God.  And he also understands that the focus of the ordinance of worship is God Himself.
Make note: worship is all about God!  The centerpiece of worship is always God.  If it is ever about anything else, then it is not worship; it is idolatry.

Notice verse 1:  “As the deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul pants for You, O God.”

It is not just the outward glory of Old Testament temple worship that he misses.  What he misses is God.  And not being in the presence of the living God is spiritual torture to him.  He longs for the presence and the person of God.  He is a worshipper who, for whatever reason, cannot worship; he cannot be in the house of God, and it’s absolutely killing him.

As we meditate on Psalm 42 today, surely we should ask ourselves whether God Himself is our greatest desire.  Do we long for Him above all things else?  Do we desire to be in the worship of the living God?

And if we do not, we need to ask ourselves, “What is wrong with us?”

I originally planned to save today’s quote for a future blog.  However, since your response to yesterday’s blog about the church was so strong, I decided to post it today:

“God is the highest good of the reasonable creature, and the enjoyment of him is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied.  To go to heaven to fully enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here.  Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows.  But the enjoyment of God is the substance.  These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun.  These are but streams, but God is the fountain.  These are but drops, but God is the ocean.

Therefore it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey towards heaven, as it becomes us to make the seeking of our highest end and proper good, the whole work of our lives, to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life.  Why should we labor for, or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end, and true happiness?”

Jonathan Edwards

No wonder worship in America is so weak.  Our highest good is not God and the enjoyment of him.  For many in the church today, their highest good is themselves.

I eagerly anticipate a hearty discussion.

Robert Nordling of the Calvin Institute of Worship once told the story of taking his five-year-old son Jackson to a young friend’s birthday party:

Jackson is all dressed up and brimming with excitement and enthusiasm as he rushes into his friends’ house to join in the festivities. However, when his father comes to pick him up after the party, Jackson comes out looking dejected and depressed.  His father asks, “Jackson, what’s the matter? Didn’t you enjoy the party?” Jackson responds with a terse, “No.” So his father asks,” But you were looking forward to this party so much!  Why didn’t you have fun?” And Jackson answers, “I didn’t get any presents!!” To which Dad can only reply, “But Jackson, it wasn’t your party!”

The lesson Nordling draws from this real life parable is real and convicting.  As we have stated countless times at CrossPoint, worship is not about us; it is about God.  Thus, the worship celebration is not for us, it is for God. Worship is God’s party, not ours!  And when we come to worship we come primarily not to receive, but to give.  We come to give to God our presents – presents of faith, gratitude, praise, confession, and commitment.

So, how do we look at our gathering for worship? Who is the center of attention? Whose party is it anyway? And how should that affect how we approach worship, and how we begin worship?

Worship is indeed God’s “party.” He is simultaneously the Inviter, the Host, and the Guest of Honor. Coming to God in worship is God’s idea, after all, not ours. God initiates worship, and we, as His children, are expected to respond.  Worship is God’s idea, and the centerpiece of worship is the Lord God Almighty.

I’ve got worship on my mind.

Worship is on my mind, in part, because the worship intensity increases each weekend at CrossPoint.

Worship is also on my mind because I am teaching a Worship Perspectives class for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary this semester.

With worship on my mind, I have something I want you to consider in light of your weekly worship experience.

Which expression best describes your worship experience?

Expression A: “I don’t get anything out of worship.”
Expression B: “I don’t get enough of worship.”

It has been my observation that those who say they do not get much out of worship enter into worship with the wrong understanding of worship.  Worship is not about man; worship is about God.  Thus, when a person gathers wondering what they will get out of it or looking for a warm, fuzzy experience they will be sorely disappointed.

On the other hand, those who do not get enough of out worship enter worship with God on their mind.  They have one agenda: the glory, majesty and supremacy of the Holy One.  Their hearts desire is to bless the Lord, to minister to Him while being led by the Holy Spirit.

So before you ask what you got out of worship, you might want to ask what you put into worship.  If you are the center of worship, prepare yourself to be disappointed.  Yet if God is the centerpiece of your worship, hang on.  God will bless.
I have two prevailing guidelines I use for worship.

First, true worship is initiated by God.  Second, true worship is a divine revelation that demands a human response.
Allow me, please, to elaborate on each guideline.

True worship is initiated by God.  Man does not decide when to worship.  Man may think he decides when he will worship God, yet God is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to worship.  God decides when man will worship Him.  When God calls His people to Himself is when worship begins.  Until then, man is only participating in religious calisthenics.  You may be singing.

You may be actually praying.  And, you may be sincere about both actions.  But until God initiates the time of worship, you are not participating in true biblical worship.  You are participating in those things which will lead to worship.  True worship is marked by God calling worshipers to worship.  Every worship experience is the result of the deliberate instigation of God.

Additionally, worship is a divine revelation that demands a human response. Or, to put it another way: God moves, man countermoves; God speaks, man listens; God acts, man reacts; God initiates, man responds.  When God makes His presence manifestly known to His people, then His people are prompted to worship.  Again, until the Lord reveals Himself, the people are not worshiping, they are preparing to worship.

So, what is the key?  If God initiates worship and if worship is a divine revelation followed by a human response, what is the objective?

The primary ingredient to Spirit-led worship is waiting on the Divine One to reveal Himself.

Call it preparation.  Call it waiting.  Call it listening.  Call it seeking.  Call whatever you like.  Man, in order to worship God, must wait on the Holy One to reveal His manifest presence before worship begins.

That is why sometimes in worship you may be just singing a song or going through the motions before you sense the mighty Presence of the Holy One.  Then, when you sense His presence – when He makes Himself known – you start worshiping in spirit and in truth.  And it is at that point worship takes on another dimension.  That may be before you enter the worship center.  Or that may not occur until the message or half way through a song.  Whichever the case, when God reveals, you respond.

That is why the Quakers, when they gather for worship, gather in a circle and sit in silence until an elder is given a word to share with the congregation.

That is why some churches begin the service with prelude music, which is intended to create an atmosphere and provide an introduction to worship.

That is why you should spend time, alone, in private prayer with the Lord at the beginning of each Lord’s Day, before you arrive on campus for corporate worship.
Remember, worship is something God starts.  And worship begins when God Almighty makes Himself known to His worshipers.

And when He does so, God’s worshipers respond.

One more thought tomorrow on worship.

In John 12:32, Jesus made this promise,

And I, when I am lifted up from all the earth, will draw all people to myself.

The Lord Jesus fulfilled that amazing promise last weekend at CrossPoint.

We were two minutes into worship, when 178 students from Truman State University arrived on our campus in buses and several vans began streaming into our worship center.  Our greeters helped them pour into an already crowded worship center.  We were adding rows of chairs; people were shuffling to make room.  It was organized chaos, and it was an awesome sight.

The students from the Campus Christian Fellowship at Truman State University are in town spending their Spring Break week at a nearby conference center.  They decided to worship with us, and we are glad they did.  Their presence and participation made for an awesome experience in worship.

As all the CrossPointers who read this daily blog know, I introduced a message series last weekend that will take us through the entire Bible between now and the end of April.  And the introductory message was a message from the entire Bible.  I started in Genesis and I concluded in Revelation, laying out the drama of Scripture.

And this is where the promise Jesus made comes into play.

After worship the two leaders of the group from Truman State University informed me that 18 participants in their group are international students who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  The international students are from all over the world – Budapest, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Africa.

Now isn’t that just like God.  Only God would bring 18 students from all over the world to Truman State University.  Then, for Spring Break, He would transplant those students to Springville, Alabama, to stay at a conference center.  Then, on Sunday morning, they would drive five miles down the road to Argo, Alabama in order to hear the Gospel – the entire Gospel of the Bible – in one message.  Only God, only the God of the Bible could do something that incredible.

Please pray for the 178 students from the Campus Christian Fellowship of Truman State University.  Also, pray for the 18 international students who are not yet born again.  And please pray for Josh and Courtney, the two leaders of the group.  Pray they continue to exalt Jesus Christ this week while on their Spring Break.