What have we gathered here to do? We are here to await God’s pleasure. This is what the word worship means—it means to wait upon God in order to offer the service He requires of us. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word is captured by Isaiah’s great response to his vision in the heavenlies, which was “Here am I, Lord, send me.” When Abraham went to the mountain with Isaac in order to worship, it was not that they were going there to conduct a praise service. That was not what Abraham was told to do. Worship is obedience.
Now this obedience includes praise, and we will offer praise this morning. But worship is not synonymous with praise. A worship service is one in which we do all that we were told to do. And what does Scripture teach us to do when we approach God? We are to confess our sins, sing songs, hymns and spiritual songs, hear Scripture read aloud, listen to the Word exposited, and partake of the Lord’s Supper. And so this is what we do.
But there is more to it. It is possible to get the drill down, to learn the vocabulary, learn when to stand and when to sit, figure out the timing of the corporate amens, and still have your heart far from God. To that, the Lord responds with “who required of you this trampling of my courts?” If that is what you will be doing over the course of the next hour or two, then it would be far better if you went home now. But the next problem is that you may not go home; you are baptized and you are summoned.
This means that we must all bow before God now with a humble and contrite spirit, which He does not despise.