The Character of Worship

Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV)

15 Therefore by [Jesus] let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

In our continuing study of Jesus in the Psalms we examine Psalm 27 today. In the midst of our psalm, David once again expresses his passion to worship God with the people of God.

One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.

After recounting the blessings that would come to him from entering the house of the Lord, David concludes:

Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joyous shouts in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

In our text today, Paul commands us to emulate David’s passion to worship the Lord. First, our worship is to be Christological. By Jesus let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God. Even as David looked in faith to the Christ to come, we are to look in faith to the Christ who has come. The only way that our sacrifice of praise can be accepted by God is through the substitionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ. No one comes to the Father except through His Son, for there is one mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus. Our worship is to be Christological.

Second, our worship is to be communal. By Jesus, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God. Even as David longed to be in the temple of God, the place where God’s people gathered to worship Him together, so we are to join together to worship the Lord. Where the people of God gather to worship, there is the temple of God. The sacrifice of praise is something that we bring to the Lord together. Our worship is to be communal.

  

Third, our worship is to be continual. By Jesus, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God. Even as David desired to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, Paul wants worship to saturate our lives. This would obviously include gathering week by week on the Lord’s Day with God’s people. But the worship that we enjoy here with the people of God is to seep into our homes, our personal lives, and our friendships. Our worship is to be continual.

Fourth, our worship is to be sacrificial. By Jesus, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God. Worship is offered up to God as a pleasing aroma. As David declares, I will offer sacrifices of joyous shouts in His tabernacle. Properly, worship is not a not a cathartic experience directed toward ourselves; nor is it a performance directed toward others; it is a sacrificial offering to the Lord. This is one reason why we typically refrain from clapping for our meditations and say, “Amen!” instead. It is an offering to the Lord not a performance for us. Our worship is to be sacrificial.

Fifth, our worship is to be vocal. By Jesus, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of our lips. As the fruit of our lips, the sacrifice of praise requires our lips to move. Like David, Paul wants us to enter into the presence of the Lord with joyful shouts, celebrating the goodness of the Lord. Our worship is to be vocal.

Finally, our worship is to be thankful. By Jesus, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His Name. Thankfulness is the heartbeat of worship. A man or woman who is not thankful is a man or woman who cannot worship. He might flap his lips but his praise just bounces off the ceiling. The resentful, bitter, angry man may grudgingly bow the head and speak the words, but his heart will not utter joyous shouts and so he does not worship. Our worship is to be thankful.

Therefore, by Jesus let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Our worship is to be Christological, communal, continual, sacrificial, vocal, and thankful. Often, however, our worship lacks these traits. So as we enter into the presence of the Lord, let us confess our sin to the Lord, seeking His forgiveness. We will have a time of silent confession, followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin.