Isaiah 66:2b
God-centric worship should be one of the foremost pursuits of believers' lives. Proper, passionate praise (of the Lord) should frame the sum of our existence. In every way imaginable our whole being should cry out to adore God, and honor Him with all that is within us. But so often the desire to submit reverence to the Lord gets overridden by selfish ambitions and worldly aspirations. The more we pull away from relational connectivity to God the weaker our will to worship becomes. And this reality underscores the textual undercurrent in the book of Isaiah. The last three blog postings have enumerated the sad state of Israel's disobedience at the time Isaiah was recorded. In short, the Hebrew people were consumed with idolatry, carnality, and spiritual debauchery. So the Lord did not hold back in letting His covenantal followers know just how far they had strayed from living in a way that brought glory to His great name, which is why so much of Isaiah's content is sternly direct and candid.
But this last writing in Isaiah focuses on its closing chapter, which is a fascinating one, in that it blends two themes: judgment and hope. The judgment in Isaiah 66 is God's clarion reckoning of a peoples' unwillingness to repent of wrongdoing and maintain an abomination-plagued destination. The hope in Isaiah 66, conversely, is an inspirational motivator because it postulates that with God's aid mankind can relinquish haughtiness and exhibit humbleness. In fact, Isaiah 66:2 spells out a brief, but beneficial, statement to this effect. In the latter half of this verse the Lord said that He esteems those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and tremble at His word.
Isn't it interesting that God did not lay down a vast list of qualifications to be an obedient soul in Isaiah 66:2? For example, God did not say, "He who is the most generous giver is the one who I will esteem." Nor did God say, 'He who is the most effective communicator of Scripture is the one who I will esteem." And why did God exclude such utterances? Because these aspects (giving and teaching) are external markers, and external markers do not always have a corresponding stimulus internally for humanity. To this end, some who give generously may merely be giving to be appreciated publicly. And some who teach the Word of God well may be doing so to garner wonderment for their spiritual skill-set. Thus we discover that external markers of worship can have false internal motives.
In all honesty, there are moments when the Holy Spirit forces me to weigh my internal incentives against my external activity. And when I do I am driven to admit the discrepancy, at times, between the two elements. I recognize the tendency I have to practice an empty praise. I try to yield to the Lord an abundant worship, but do so some days with an artificial will. But as articulated in Isaiah 66:2, our praise does not have to be elaborate, fanciful, or colorful. But it should be sincere and humble. Unfortunately, mankind has a hankering for the ornate and lofty. We tend to be drawn to bright lights and big stages. And while such elements have their place they can be dangerous simply for the fact that "grand worship" does not always equate to "great worship". For instance, I could be surrounded by three thousand boisterous, energetic praiseful people singing at the top of their lungs to the Lord. But if my heart is more fixated on the style, sound, or structure of the adoration, rather than the subject of the adoration (God), then I am not engaging in proper, passionate praise.
How many modern-day believers fall into this temptation? Week in and week out Christians attend formal, corporate services but how many of them walk away from such services with critiques of the worship service leadership? Spoken words, and unspoken thoughts, like, "The message was too long today", or, "The music was too upbeat today" emit from far too many. But do we see the danger of this logic? When the fault of a worship service's impact is placed squarely on the shoulders of its leaders it deflects from the larger issue at play: the personal participation and position of the worshippers. Is it really the sole responsibility of the music minister, or the pastor, or a Sunday school teacher, to draw out a favorable response from me regarding my affection for God? No. I should come ready to wholeheartedly praise God. In fact, my weeklong celebration of the Lord (quiet time, prayer, service, etc.) should be so transparent, so genuine, that I should seek ways to give in service to God. In other words, the time of corporate worship should be more about what I can give, rather than what I can take.
So may Isaiah 66:2 rekindle a fire within us to be consecrated in nature, contrite in spirit, and convicted by God's Word. May the followers of God tremble in reverent, respectful fear that the Lord could be so gracious, and good, to a people characterized by spiritual arguments about, and assaults on, the sovereignty and sanctity of God. In short, let the worshippers, the humble and honorable worshippers, arise and give glory to the amazing and wondrous God.
No comments:
Post a Comment