Lately I have seen articles written about worship. These articles actually have nothing to do with true worship but about personal taste in music or service styles. The truth of the matter is there really is not a lot of worshiping in Spirit and in Truth in the church today. The problem with worship today is that it really has nothing to do with the worship style or song types but a problem with the heart. Okay yes there are some issues but that is not what the major problem is as it is about our hearts. Yes the music is way to loud in some churches, yes it is a concert / performance atmosphere, fog machines- really??? Hymns or choruses, hymnals or projectors etc. I saw a quote one time that said the Holy Spirit has not inspired anyone to write a song since Fanny Crosby. That is not true obviously as many songs are being written today under the direction of the Holy Spirit. I was going to debunk some of these articles I have read recently like the one where the worship leader could not worship because he did not know the song at a convention so he texted his wife instead, or the one about the person who wanted hymnals back as opposed to the media presentation, or the one where people stop going to church at all because they do not like what is happening at church. You can only imagine what I might have said about each of these but really these articles speak for themselves of a narcissistic people who call themselves Christians who have no idea what true worship is. Wow would that have been easy fodder.
Just know this that worship is not about you. Remember when you sing these songs and it is not all about Jesus you are being a hypocrite. It is time to look at the heart of worship. The song Heart of Worship came out and then was used so much people stopped singing it. The sad part was it became just a song that people listened to but did not heed the message, the song was not what God was looking for but the heart behind it. The lyrics say, “When the music fades all is stripped away and I simply come. Longing just to bring something that's of worth that will bless Your heart. I'll bring You more than a song for a song in itself is not what You have required. You search much deeper within through the way things appear, You're looking into my heart I'm coming back to the heart of worship and it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it when it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus.” In 1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel replied to Saul: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”
As I was doing my devotions today I opened to Isaiah 6 and I realized that this is all I have to say. It also confirmed to me once again that these types of articles simply are a testament to the desolation of the church. Jesus sums it up when he said in “Mark 7:6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” We live among a people with unclean lips. As I was thinking about this tremendous lack of knowledge when it comes to worship I thought about Psalm 29:2 “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness.” The question is do we, I include myself in this, really get that Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty. Revelation 4:8 “Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
So here is what Isaiah has to say. Join with me in saying “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” I believe true worship leads to a repentant heart. 2 Chronicles 7:14 “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Isaiah 6:1 “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9 He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?” And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, 12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. 13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
Thankfully Ezra 9:15 “Lord, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.” Isaiah 37:31 “Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. 32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 11:1 (The Branch From Jesse) “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.”
We must repent before the Lord in our desolation. James 4:6 “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble. 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
