Worship

One thing I've thought about throughout the semester is "worship" and what it actually is, especially within the context of singing (aka chapel, GIFT, P&W). Throughout the year, I've tried to get into it, but, honestly, I've struggled to really "feel it." At points I can't get passed the shallowness of the lyrics, at others points I wonder why God requires us to praise Him, and still, at other times, I just can't get into it. But then I began to think about WHY we worship God and WHY we sing songs to Him. And something clicked - what if we weren't singing to God for God; what if we were singing to God for us? 


I believe it was John Piper who coined the term "Christian Hedonist" (and if it wasn't Piper, he's the one who has popularized it). Sam Storms has followed in the same direction as a Christian hedonist, largely due to one quote by Jonathon Edwards. Edwards stated, "now what is glorifying God, but a rejoicing at that glory he has displayed?  . . .Neither can the highest end of creation be the declaring [of] God's glory to others; for the declaring [of] God's glory is good for nothing otherwise than to raise joy in ourselves and others in what is declared." In fact, Storms goes on to state, "to come to God or to worship him or to yield to his moral will for any reason other than the joy that is found in who he is, is sinful." Think about it this way (it helped me). If your friend told you that he really enjoyed being with you, you wouldn't accuse him/her of being selfish, because the fact that they find joy in hanging out with you shows you that they find value in the relationship. In fact, you would be taken aback (ya, taken aback) if your friends didn't enjoy being with you. Is God any different? If God is the source of your greatest delight and joy, then you are God-centered, not selfish. As Francis Chan puts it, "right now a hundred million angels are praising God's name; He certainly doesn't need to beg or plead with us." 


This, inevitably, leads to the larger question of "why does God require us to bring Him glory in all we do?; why are we supposed to be constantly bringing God glory?; Isn't that selfish and why does He need it?" Well, this is ultimately the same question as above, only on a bigger scale - instead of wondering why we are worshiping God through song, we're wondering why we are worshiping/bringing God glory through everything we do. John Piper addressed this question many years ago in a sermon series he gave. Piper spoke about praising what we enjoy, but he also spoke about praise being the climax of our joy. C.S. Lewis one said, "but the most obvious fact about praise - whether of God or anything - strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness of the fear of boring others is deliberatley brought in to check it . . . I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. It is appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed." Piper goes on to state, "if God is truly for us, if he would give us the best and make our joy full, he must make it his aim to win our praise for himself. Not because he needs to shore up some weakness in himself or compensate for some deficiency, but because he loves us and seeks the fullness of our joy that can only be found in knowing and praising him . . . God is the one being in all the universe for whom seeking his own praise is the ultimate loving act." 


There you have it. God knows that our truest joy, our strongest peace, our deepest sense of fulfillment, lies fully in Him. The more of Him we have, the more joy, peace, and fulfillment we experience. Therefore, He desires to bring us closer to Him and He desires us to bring Him glory and praise because He loves us and wants the best for us. So next time you find yourself in a situation where you are singing to God, don't think about yourself simply giving God what He deserves; (if the aim of your faith is simply to give God what He deserves, you'll strive forever and never come close) think about how God desires this to bring you the greatest joy and fulfillment. 


P.S. Here are the links to the articles that I quoted:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/is-god-for-us-or-for-himself
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-life-changing-discovery-of-christian-hedonism?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DGBlog+%28DG+Blog%29