Authentic Worship
God is worthy of worship. It has always struck me that in Psalm 29, David calls on angels to join him in praise of God. He exclaims: “Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness” (Ps. 29:1–2). What glory is due His name? All glory. God is worthy of worship.
In fact, the word worship beautifully portrays God’s due. In the Greek, it pictures an individual as bowing down and kissing the hem of the garment belonging to the one before him. Such an act speaks of adoration, fear, love, dependence, and humility. In worship, the inferior recognizes the superior and ascribes to Him the glory due His name.
And God is passionate for the glory due His name. In Isaiah 48:9, 11, He says:
“For my name’s sake I defer my anger;
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
that I may not cut you off. . . .
For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.”
The Holy Sovereign of the universe is jealous for His own glory. He is passionate about receiving worship.
The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” It answers, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” As theologians have pointed out, God’s chief end is no different. God’s chief end is to glorify Himself and to enjoy Himself forever. This is His eternal aim even as it is our created aim.
So why does David in Psalm 29 call on the angels to worship God with him? Because it is their job? Yes. But something more drives him. He calls for them to join him in praise because he knows that his voice alone is too meager. He rightly feels utterly inadequate to give sufficient praise to such a great God.
Worship humbles even as it delights the Christian. God is great, and that must be reflected in our worship. Thus, it is not just any worship that God desires. The writer to the Hebrews says, “Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (12:28–29, emphasis added).
External engagement in worship does not matter if there is an absence of internal engagement.
If we were to define acceptable and authentic worship, surely reverence would lead the description. Yet so much of what the church calls worship today is anything but reverent.
A few years ago, I attended a service in which a pastor walked onto the church platform without any introduction, grabbed a microphone, and said into it, “Hey, Jesus.” This was supposed to be the casual opening prayer to begin worship. But we don’t say, “Hey, Jesus.” No one offering holy worship in Scripture ever approaches God with such an air. Encounters with God elicit reverence. In Exodus 3, Moses takes off his shoes; in Exodus 20, Israel is struck with awe; in Job 40, Job silences his lips; in Isaiah 6, Isaiah quakes; in Revelation 1, John falls down as though dead. Even the elders and angels, who are worshiping day in and day out before the throne, aren’t casual in worship. Appropriate and authentic worship is marked by reverence and awe.
Now, this doesn’t mean that our worship has to be stiff. The writer to the Hebrews says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16). God welcomes us and desires that we draw near with joy and confidence. Joy and confidence are not antithetical to reverence and awe. The writer to the Hebrews emphasizes both. Jesus is our Friend; may we ever revel in that reality. Yet—and this is key—He is also our Lord and King and Holy God. We don’t say, “Hey, Jesus.” The God of the Bible is a consuming fire. We approach, but always with reverence.
As we consider acceptable and authentic worship, we must also note that it’s possible to possess the right tenor yet have the wrong spirit. In one of the most important passages regarding authentic worship, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: “The Father is seeking such people to worship him. . . . Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23–24).
Our spirits are to be engaged in worship. That occurs only as our spirits are transformed by the Holy Spirit. But the emphasis of Jesus in John 4 is on our own personal spirits’ being engaged. God wants the heart of man. External engagement in worship does not matter if there is an absence of internal engagement. God said to Samuel, “The Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
Our worship is not authentic and acceptable if we are simply going through the motions. God warns the Jewish people with this kind of worship time and again. He says in Isaiah 29:13 that He is going to discipline the people, saying, “This people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me.” In Hosea 6:6, He says, “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” David confesses to God: “You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Ps. 51:16–17).
Of all the weddings that I have officiated, I have yet to witness a young bride who is uninterested in her groom. Never have I seen a young woman take her vows with lack of care; never have I seen her eyes dart around the room as the ring was placed on her finger; never has she seemed preoccupied when I pronounced, “It is my honor to present to you Mr. and Mrs. . . .” A bride who does not seem to appreciate what she is engaged in—committing herself in covenant relationship to her groom—would be a strange sight. The service is no mere formality, and every bride I have ever married understands that. They are stirred and delighted, they feel like the greatest object of love in the entire universe, and if asked, they would also confess to being a little fearful.
Our corporate worship services on Sunday mornings are covenant-renewal services. We are being reminded of the pledges and promises of God in Christ Jesus—our Groom. And we are remembering and recommitting our pledges and promises to Him as His bride. How strange it would be to simply go through the motions. No, He would have us worship Him with our spirits engaged. Sincerity matters for authentic and acceptable worship. This is what the Father seeks.
This leads to our final point: acceptable and authentic worship is according to truth. Notice that Jesus in John 4 is concerned about what the Father desires. “Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” He is not so concerned with what we desire, though that is often what drives decisions in worship services in far too many churches today. R.C. Sproul once pointed out, “The one worship service in the history of the world that was completely designed to minister to the felt needs of the people was the worship of the golden calf at the base of Mount Sinai.”
We are to worship as Jesus says, according to “truth.” We worship according to God’s revelation of what He desires. The Westminster Confession of Faith says it well:
The acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures. (21.1)
Worshiping in truth means that our worship services are dictated and dominated by His truth. We simply read the Word, preach the Word, sing the Word, confess the Word, pray the Word, and see the Word in the sacraments. The activities of our worship service are not the fruit of brainstorming or the imaginations of church leaders. Neither are they to be determined by polling the congregation or by seeking to stir the emotions of pew-sitters. Acceptable and authentic worship of God is worship dictated and dominated by His truth.
So much of what passes for worship in the church today is anything but worship. It is not ascribing to God the glory that is due His name. What a wonderfully delightful duty has been placed before us. Let us offer authentic and acceptable worship of God—worship in spirit and in truth with the right tenor of reverence. Let us ascribe to Him the glory due His name.
Rev. Jason Helopoulos is senior pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Mich. He is author of The New Pastor’s Handbook and A Neglected Grace: Family Worship in the Christian Home.
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