Worship's Backwards Blessing

Considering my secondary vocation, I spend a lot of time thinking about the purpose and practice of worship—I guess it goes with the territory! Anyways, I recently had this thought that was inspired by Matt Redman’s song, “Gifted Response”. There are a bunch of thoughts that will seem random here, but you’ll see in the end how they all come together!

As Christians, we’re told that we were “created to worship God”, and I don’t think I’ve heard anyone suggest anything to the contrary. But, there’s a good part of my heart that just doesn’t believe that God’s desire in creating worship was to be for His glory first. I don’t know that there is scripture to back this up, but I think that it would be contrary to the character of God for Him to have created worship for the primary purpose of glorifying Himself. Certainly, He receives glory from our worship, but I believe that His glory is a fruit, or an after-effect, of His actual intentions.

One of my favorite sections of scripture is from Proverbs 3. Verses 5 and 6 are an exhortation to “trust in the Lord with all of your heart and not lean on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” I love that word, “acknowledge”. Other ways to say it might be to “consider Him”, or to “give Him credit”, or to “point out His effects in the world”.

Now, go to the end of the Bible, in book of Revelation. It was written by a guy named John, who was so outspoken about the message of Jesus that he was thrown in prison for his preaching. After the authorities failed in several attempts to kill him, they sent him to the Island of Patmos to live until he died. While there, God opened up the clouds and gave him a vision of heaven. He wrote down what was “revealed” to him, and it was called the book of “Revelation”.

In the 12th chapter or Revelation, John says that he heard a voice saying that the accuser (Satan) has been cast back to the earth (stripped of his power), and they (the accused, or the Christians that made it to heaven) overcame Him (Satan) “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony”. Certainly, we know that we receive access to God because of the “blood of the Lamb”, or as a result of Jesus’ death on the cross; however, I think we miss the depth of this next statement… they overcame him ALSO by the “word of their testimony”. The testimony doesn’t replace the blood of the Lamb; the testimony affirms its power over Satan! The testimony is more than just a declaration of our salvation; it’s our acknowledgement of the Power of God! It’s our consideration of God’s influence in our lives! It’s the credit we give Him for the daily graces He provides! It’s our announcement of God’s effect on the world!

Psalms 22:3 says that God is “enthroned on the praises of [His people]” or that He “inhabits the praises of His people”, depending on the translation you read. Basically, the presence of God is with those who worship Him—He “fills up” their praise. In the Old Testament, occasionally God would physically appear to His people; He would come in the form of a dove or act of creation, or just audibly speak. But in the New Testament, after Jesus ascended into heaven, He promised that He would send the “His Spirit”, or the “Holy Spirit”, to act as a comforter for us in His physical absence.

Okay, so we’ve determined that worship is more than just singing a song; it’s acknowledging God, or testifying about the character of God and the impact that God has had in our lives. Also, we know that God inhabits our “acknowledgement” of Him, and He does so by sending the Holy Spirit to be with us. Now, check this out…

Galatians 5:22-23 lists 9 effects we can expect to see once we encounter the Holy Spirit (the “fruit of the Spirit”). They are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”.

I believe that God intended worship as a vehicle for us, His people, to make it through the battles we face while on earth. Because, when we acknowledge God, His promise is that His Spirit will come to meet us and we’ll know it because we’ll see the effects of His Spirit.

Imagine the difficult situation you’re in right now… you know, the one that is making your entire world feel like it’s shaking, and where there’s no rest. Now “acknowledge God” and say, “God, my world is a mess, but You created the world, and You alone have power over this situation. You have it all in control. My trust is only in You!” Now, because you’ve acknowledged God, His promise is that His Spirit will meet you, and you’ll then feel one of the effects of His Spirit… maybe peace?

Possibly you’re angry with someone who’s hurt you deeply… the wound is exposed, and every new interaction with that person just gets worse to the point you feel like you’re going to lose control. You “acknowledge God” and say, “God, I’ve been hurt and I’m angry! But, You were beaten and killed, mocked and shamed, and all of that was done unjustly. You understood more than anyone else understood, and you responded with sincere concern for those that were offending You.” And, because you’ve acknowledged God, His Spirit rises in you and you feel an effect of His Spirit… maybe self-control?

I don’t claim to know exactly how this all works, but I believe that our ability to worship God is His gift to us in order for us to be able to more victoriously deal with the circumstances we struggle through while on the earth!

…such a cool thought…