What is Genuine Worship?

At my church we are working through Nehemiah 8-10. We started with "What is True Revival?" and that leads to true worship. Chapter 9 of Nehemiah gives a great picture of the kind of worship God desires and actually looks like. Remember that Jesus said to the woman in John 4 that God is seeking for people who will worship Him as He really is and desires to be worshiped. 

Shock and awe (technically known as rapid dominance) is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming power, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of force to paralyze an adversary's perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight. When it was first brought to our attention in the bombing of Baghdad, we kind of expected something more. We weren’t quite so shocked and awed even though it wasn’t meant for us. We have seen more spectacular sights in movies.

Living in a time of amazing and spectacular achievements can lead to a ho-hum mentality. “I’ve seen it before or seen better.” We can easily lose our awe of God. E.g. when you read Psalm 145 what happens? OK. Ho-hum. Didn’t do anything for me.

James 1:22-25 – Unless we look intently into the mirror of God’s Word, we will not see God as He really is and we will not grow spiritually as He intends us to. If we are not looking intently we will not be amazed and awed. If I can simply read a passage and say: Didn’t do much for me, I am being a consumer rather than a worshipper. If my first thought is: OK how can I apply this, then I have missed the glory and beauty of the Lord.

What makes me suspicious and doubtful of all the heavenly travel books is that none of the people in them are awed before Jesus like those in the Bible. A key word in the gospel of Mark is “amazed.” Isaiah cried out: Woe is me! Others thought they were about to die. Peter asked Jesus to leave Him alone.

In Nehemiah they actually bow with their faces to the ground. What they do is consistent through the Bible. People see God and are humbled, reminded of their sin, and fear Him.

True worship – It starts when we truly listen to God’s Word. We see ourselves more clearly when we have an accurate understanding of who God is. When we see our sin, how we’ve disobeyed Him, then we must respond by confessing our sins and receiving forgiveness. True worship will then fill our hearts, as we desire to praise and worship the Lord for Who He is and His mercy toward us.

More to follow.