Why We Worship (Part 2)

Why We Worship 

Psalm 47:1, 2 “Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise! For the LORD Most High is awesome. He is the great King of all the earth.”

Every now and then we need to ask ourselves this question:

“Why do we worship the Lord in the manner that we do?”

We gather with God's people to offer songs, hymns, prayers, gifts, and other expressions of worship on Sundays and Wednesday nights. I worship regularly because it's the right thing to do and because it's a habit of my life.

I don't believe there's anything wrong with showing up for a worship service because of a conviction that it's the right thing to do. Nor do I apologize for worshiping as a matter of habit. Duty and habit rightly help to guide our actions in life. Yet, sometimes, as I'm singing worship songs in church, I realize that I'm just going through the motions. I'm singing words, perhaps even thinking about their meaning, but forgetting the fundamental reason why I'm doing what I'm doing.

What is this reason? First, let me say what it is not.

-We do not worship to feel moved, though warm emotions frequently arise when we worship God.

-We do not worship to "get something out of the service," though we often benefit from what happens when we gather with God's people for worship.

-We do not worship for anything having to do with ourselves, though worship is one of the most meaningful and transformational things we do in life.

Why do we worship?

Psalm 47:1, 2 makes this clear:

"Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise! For the LORD most High is awesome. He is the great King of all the earth."

Did you catch that? It's easily missed. The primary reason for our worship is centered in one simple word: "For." The Hebrew word is even shorter: ki, meaning "for."

-We worship God for God is who God is.

-We worship because of who God is and what God has done.

-We worship in response to God, to God's nature, and activity.

As Christians, our worship is centered in the Gospel, in the good news of what God has done in Jesus Christ. That's why we continually remember the Gospel in our worship, in praying, singing, silence or celebration. We worship and praise God. For the unique, all-powerful, sovereign, holy, just God has reached out to us in love through Jesus Christ, saving us from sin and death, drawing us into fellowship with him and with his people, enlisting us as partners in his work to redeem and restore the world. Now there's a reason to worship!