Are We Prepared to Worship?
In Exodus 3, in the “burning bush” passage, Moses comes to approach God. Yet God tells him, “Do not come near here; remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground [lit. “ground of holiness]” (Exodus 3:1-6).
In worship, we stand on the “ground of holiness.” This reference to holiness in Exodus 3 thus begins the Law’s extensive emphasis on God’s holiness, the people’s holiness and the nature of holiness in worship.
God is profaned or desecrated when men fail to ascribe holiness to Him, or man acts in forgetfulness of them. The Israelites were to make sure they were ritually clean but that was to begin with the Israelites examining their hearts – their inner motives and make sure they were pure. David asks, and answers his question relative to who can approach God – Psalm 24:3-4 – “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully.”
The New Testament is also clear that God takes infinite delight and pleasure in that which is pure and holy – John 4:23 – “An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers.”
Our proper reaction to God’s holiness, his separateness, is one of awe, reverence, and silence. In the NT era, we worship God in spirit and in truth – the truth, obviously is the New Testament. We, too, have to recognize that certain things are appropriate in worship and certain things are not. When we come into the presence of God, we must do so as He regulates. Worship is focused on God; it is about God.
But we also need to work on that second requirement of true worship – worshiping in spirit. That is, our spirits need to be engaged in worship. God is a Spirit and it is our spirits which must be in communion with God. That means that worship is not just going through the motions. It’s not just engaging our hands and mouth in taking the Lord’s Supper, in singing, etc.
Worshipping God in holiness is not stale, lifeless, mechanical worship. It is worship that is limited to what God has authorized, but it is also worship that engages both the mind and the heart.
Then what do we need to do in order to prepare for worship?
Understand what worshipping in spirit and truth means.
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Remind ourselves of the blessings which are ours and be thankful for those blessings.
Keep ourselves separated from sin.
Keep our focus on God in worship and not other matters that might be going on in our lives.
Maintain peace in the home and keep a spiritual focus in the home. A mind saturated with worldiness Monday-Saturday will find it hard to shift gears and be spiritually-minded on Sunday.
Get a proper amount of sleep on Saturday night.
Recognize we are not the audience and worship is not primarily intended to tickle our ears.
Pray and put our cares in the hands of God so that we can focus.
When we worship, let us recognize that we are on holy ground and consecrate ourselves in a spirit of humility as we worship in truth.
Your fellow-servant in Christ,
–Paul Holland
