WORSHIP: WHAT IS HAPPENING INSIDE

​Chances are, if you have attended church or even if you have a passing acquaintance with church, you have probably connected worship with the church service. Worship is, after all, closely associated with music, so the singing portion of the service is often called “the worship set.” And after the singing portion is done by the designated worship team, we flip a mental switch to the “sermon,” and then another to “fellowship.” And when the service is completely over, it is time to switch everything off and get back to the real world. If that is your idea of worship, you are not alone. But worship is so much broader than the one to two hours you may spend in a building.
 
In the gospel of John, Jesus makes the following statement during his encounter with the Samaritan woman: God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. While we could do a deep-dive into this verse (and the whole passage for that matter), let us briefly look at a couple of things.
 
First of all, worship is not primarily external, but internal (worship in spirit). Certainly, what we do on the outside—singing, lifting our hands, prayer—is good, but God wants our worship to start on the inside.
 
In Psalm 2:11, we are admonished to “serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”  This seems like an odd instruction, given how uplifting our worship experiences are.  But as we worship, are we really aware of the very real God that we are worshipping? The Lord is our Friend and yes, we can come to Him and confide in Him, and even laugh with Him. But at no time is He merely our “Big Buddy upstairs.” Our worship and praise recognize the true and living God and knowing the real God should make us quake a little. It is okay to feel good in worship, but make sure your heart attitude, your spirit, is right.
 
So as you worship, what is going on inside?
 
Second, worship is not primarily subjective, but objective (worship in truth). Please do not misunderstand that statement. Worship hits on all the proverbial cylinders of our very being, including emotions. Unbridled joy and crushing sorrow and everything in between can and does well up when we are worshipping the true and living God.
 
Once again, it is okay to feel good during worship. But our worship should be consistent with the Word of God. Just like having an accurate view of God internally, we need to make sure what we are saying about God externally is accurate as well. Our thoughts should be like those in Jeremiah 10:10, “But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King.” Do not sacrifice the solid revelation of God in Scripture on the altar of feelings.
 
Worship is a wonderful thing. It helps us draw closer to the Lord. And it is so important, that God wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth.