What God wants most is that we should love him with our whole hearts, souls, minds, and resources. That’s what worship is all about. Worship is all about the greatness of God. To express our praise of God’s glory is one of the primary forms of worship. The psalmist gives us plenty of examples of this, but none better expressed than Psalm 145, verse 3. He sings, “You are wonderful, Lord, and you deserve all praise because you are much greater than anyone can understand.” It’s far beyond our understanding, yet the deepest need in our lives is to somehow grasp it. I would argue that we are mostly unaware of it, but what we need most and what we are most starved for is a view of the awesome God who created the universe and sustains our lives. But more also, we thirst for communion, a relationship, with this God.
Sufferings may often help us see God better. Job endures the ultimate of life sufferings. I doubt if anyone has ever suffered as much. In it all, he acknowledged God’s power. “Although YOU slay me, yet will I trust you,” he says to God. “Naked came I into the world, and naked from it, I will go.” “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” The sovereignty of God becomes the theme of his words as he speaks to his friends and addresses God. In so many words, he praises the grandeur of God’s power, the God who hangs the world on nothing, who controls the seas, the moon, the stars, and all their movements. (See Job Chapter 26). In the midst of a life of confusing pain and suffering, what we hunger for most is a glimpse of God.
I’ve heard it said that when we get so heavenly-minded, we’re of no earthly good. Some have said that praising God, singing and praying, and other acts of corporate worship especially do nothing for them. The Greatness of God and the expression of our appreciation of it is relevant to everything in life. When we sing praises to God, even when we don’t feel like it, our love and appreciation for Him grows. When we focus our attention on God, we expand our vision. We can see life not in terms of what I can do but in terms of what He can do. Worship dispels my fears. When I worship God, I forget those things that gnaw away at me in my day-to-day life. Worship gives me energy for my work. The truth is that when I’m the most heavenly-minded, I do the most earthly good. Worship dissolves my worries. When I put God first, He seems to take care of the rest. Worship refreshes my spirit. When I wake up with heaviness, all I have to do is look at the grandeur of God, and my spirit is lifted. Satan is defeated when he sees us praising and worshipping God. Worship is one of the greatest weapons of spiritual warfare. Finally, let me say that worship prepares us for heaven. It’s our drawing near to God on earth, the result of which is His drawing near to us in heaven. The deepest need in our human heart is to know God and love him. Jesus said (my translation), “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one will ever find God unless he does so through me.” Let the one who is thirsty, Jesus said, come to me and drink! The Psalmist said in Psalm 42:1, “As the deer thirsts for water, so my soul thirsts for God.” Psalm 42:1