To Worship in Spirit and Truth

John 4:23
(23)  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

I've recently been reading in the Old Testament, and have been much impressed that behind all the ceremonial symbolism of the sacrificial system, there is a principle of worship that transcends into the New Covenant. That principle is to rejoice and be thankful.

The Law's Command to Rejoice and Give Thanks

Deuteronomy 26 gives instructions for the covenant people to bring their first fruits and their tithes before God. There were specific prayers and confessions that were commanded to be made when these offerings were brought before God. For example, when giving their first fruits to the LORD, they were to say a prayer that confessed how God had redeemed them from Egyptian bondage and brought them into the land of promise. They were to confess that they had thus brought the first fruits of the land before the LORD, as evidence of His faithfulness to His promise to the fathers. They were then to set the basket down and worship before the LORD.

Deuteronomy 26:10-11
(10)  And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:
(11)  And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.

The command to be thankful and rejoice was not to be taken lightly. Deuteronomy 28 contains the long list of curses that would fall on the covenant people if they were unfaithful to the commands of God. But curiously, toward the end of the curses, God gives the primary reason for his displeasure as a lack of joy and thankfulness among His people.

Deuteronomy 28:46-47
(46)  And they [the curses] shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.
(47)  Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;

When we read this, could we conclude that a lack of thankfulness is the root behind much, if not all of the unfaithfulness that God's covenant children exhibit?

Thanksgiving in the Tabernacle of David

David is a name that is rightly associated with worship. Although a warrior and king, worship was his passion as evidenced by his organization of the 5 books of the Psalter, and especially by his organization of the worship surrounding the Ark of the Covenant. In the act of bringing the Ark of the Covenant home from the land of the Philistines, David orchestrated the processional march to be a joyful worship celebration.

1 Chronicles 15:25
(25)  So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the house of Obededom with joy.

The joyful celebration would not end when David brought the Ark back home to the covenant people. The king who was also the nation's worship leader had a special tent pitched for the Ark close to his own home. At this site, David appointed permanent shifts of singers and musicians to continue the celebration and thanksgiving every day, and every hour of the day.

1 Chronicles 16:4-6
(4)  And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:
(5)  Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals;
(6)  Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

Jesus and the Lifestyle of Joy and Thanksgiving

It is easy enough to see the emphasis on thanksgiving and rejoicing that Jesus made. A quick search of the concordance will reveal the word "rejoice" and "thanksgiving" used repeatedly in the context of Jesus' ministry. But I think the most telling passage is how the resurrected Christ was revealed to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. These two disciples did not recognize who Christ was until they sat down to eat together and Christ blessed the food (Lu. 24:30-31). Blessed is translated from the Greek word eulogeo, which means to give solemn thanks. Luke 24:35 specifically relates that the disciples finally recognized the Lord in the breaking of bread--i.e. they recognized the way Christ gave thanks for their meal. This could only be true because Jesus was a man who regularly gave heartfelt praise and thanksgiving to the Father.

What Does it Mean to Worship in Spirit and in Truth?

I have a pentecostal background, and as most folks know, the worship services in the churches of my youth were lively. We were blessedly free from the stodginess that has been known to grip many older denominations. We also were sometimes guilty of ridiculous excesses (I have witnessed legs being broken in some pentecostal services that got so out of control as to become more like a circus than a religious gathering.)
We were always quick to point out (only sometimes with a prideful heart) that Christ said that true worshipers would worship in spirit and in truth. I fully believed then that worship in spirit and truth looked like a pentecostal church service--loud and unashamedly emotional.
I still prefer worship that is expressive and unbound. I appreciate the beauty and tradition of some liturgical worship traditions, but I am only at home when I am free to raise my hands and shout, or bow my head and cry.
But I no longer maintain that we are worshiping in spirit and truth just because we clap our hands or shout in the church house. We do not fulfill the Lord's word regarding worship just because we pray in tongues, or practice any other of the many legitimate pentecostal/charismatic expressions of worship. (Neither do I maintain that we are worshiping in truth, because we presume to have correct doctrine--this is a source of terrible religious pride that I have first hand experience with).
The Lord has led me to understand that true worshipers lead a lifestyle of joy and thanksgiving. This is the doctrinal truth about covenant worship that is presented in the Old Testament. We worship in doctrinal truth when we confess the goodness of God in our daily lives, and not just in our corporate meetings.We worship in spirit when our confession comes from a heart of honesty and integrity, and not just from our trained lips.
Just as the Old Testament Israelites could go through the motions of bringing their offerings to God, yet their hearts could be far from Him, so can we go through the motions of worship without our hearts being truly thankful. You can jump and shout and run the isles (if your church permits it!), and still not worship God in spirit and truth if you are not living a lifestyle of joy and thanksgiving.
I have made the commitment to honor God with a joyful heart and thanksgiving at all times, notwithstanding my circumstances. I am reminded of the warning by the Apostle that men would be unthankful in the last days (2 Tim 3:2). I choose to follow the command to rejoice and give thanks in every circumstance according to the will of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
(16)  Rejoice evermore.
(17)  Pray without ceasing.
(18)  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

The Magnified Word

Psalms 138:1-2,8
(1)  A Psalm of David. I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
(2)  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
(8)  The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

The Context of Psalm 138

Psalm 138 is David's worship response to the great promise God made to him regarding his lineage. The promise regarded the kingship and the temple (see 2 Sam 7:12-16). God promised that the kingship over the covenant people would forever be associated with David's lineage, and that David's Son would build God a temple. This is expressed in terms of God building David a house, and the Son of David reciprocating and building God's house.
We who have the benefit of the New Testament revelation understand that Christ, not Solomon, was the greater Son of David. Jesus Christ is the one who has inherited the throne of David forever, and He is the one who is building God's house (Eph 2:19-22).

The Reputation of God

Psalm 138:2 states that God has exalted His word above His name. In this context, His name is His reputation. We say that a person has made a name for themselves when they have done some exploit. In this verse, God's name speaks of the reputation He earned in His mighty acts of redemption toward Israel in the story of the Exodus.
When Moses initially went to Pharoah and demanded in the name of Jehovah that he let Israel go, Pharoah responded that he did not know the God of whom Moses spoke (Ex 5:2). Unknown to Pharoah, God had selected him for the very purpose of showing His power of judgment and making His divine name known throughout all the earth (Ex 9:16). After the plagues, you can be sure Pharoah knew very well who God was, as did the inhabitants of Canaan and the rest of the world.

The Word Magnified Above the Name

When David stated that God has magnified the word above all His name, David was expressing that the things God had promised to do for him would exceed the great acts of redemption God had performed for Israel during the Exodus. In this context, God's word is His promise. And the fulfillment of His promise to David would be greater than anything God had ever done before in the history or redemption.

David's Response to the Promise of God

David's response was first that of worship and thanksgiving, although he didn't live to see the promise fulfilled. As the other great men of faith in the Old Testament, David died in faith, God having reserved the fulfillment of the promise for Christ and the Church. Psalm 138:2 says that David worshiped and gave thanks as if the promise was already fulfilled.
His response also included the response of humility and confession. David recognized that despite being called a man after God's own heart, he and his household did not live up to the lofty calling he had been given. Some of his last words include the confession that he and his household were not perfect before God (2 Sam 23:5). But David prayed in Psalm 138:8, the LORD will perfect that which concerneth me,...

Praying the Will of God

When David wrote the LORD will perfect that which concerneth me, we can consider this first of all a prayer for God to fulfill the personal promises He had given David. Many of us have our own destinies that have been revealed to us by God, and while we wait for their fulfillment, the Spirit sometimes prompts us to pray and ask for them to be fulfilled. We can sympathize and relate to David in this.
But I should also note that not only was David asking God to fulfill the things that had been promised, he was also asking God to perfect his own human character. The last part of Psalm 138:8 reads thy mercy, O LORD, endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. David recognized that God's promise always comes with the contingency that our character is to be changed and formed by God's own hands.
Sometimes, our destiny is held from us because we resist the hand of the Divine Potter who intends to mold and fit us to the destiny He has for us. David recognized that he was a work in progress, and he asked God to continue with the man-building process and ultimately perfect David into the man God foresaw. David knew that his prophetic destiny was tied to his conversion into the Divine Image, and prayed for his own spiritual growth.

Called According to His Purpose

Romans 8:28-29
(28)  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
(29)  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

We can relate to David, because all believers in the New Testament Church are also given great prophetic promises, although very few people know or understand this. We are called according to his purpose--not our own purposes. This purpose was foreordained in Christ before the world was created! And the scripture tells us that all things work together for good,...to them who are the called according to his purpose. Do not be so shallow and self-oriented to think that all things work for the good of our human conceived purposes. Rather, the things that come to pass in your life are used by God for the good of the eternal, prophetic calling that He has placed on your life.
And like David, we can relate to not being worthy of the calling. But God's promise has the provision of our own transformation into the image of Christ. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,...
As we long for and groan for the promises of God in our own lives, we should recognize that we need to humbly submit to the hand of the Great Potter. The plans God has for his children are beyond our minds to comprehend--but they require our being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
With David, we are thankful for what has been promised, even while we confess that we are still a work in progress. Thy mercy, O LORD endureth forever: Forsake not the works of thine own hands!

2-Dimensional vs 3-Dimensional Life

James 4:14
(14)  How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog--it's here a little while, then it's gone.

The scriptures consistently teach that the natural life of humanity is fleeting. Isaiah wrote that our lives were as quickly passed as the grass in the field that is only green for a short season (Is. 40:6-8). James wrote that our lives were like the morning fog that quickly passes when the sun comes out. Other scriptural texts concur that life is short and not guaranteed. Even in the secular world, Kerry Livgren wrote the familiar lyrics that speak of the natural life. Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind.

Let me suggest another illustration about natural life:

The natural life of humankind is two dimensional.

What do I mean by two dimensional? I mean that our lives are like a photograph, being only a two dimensional image. There is nothing behind the photo, and nothing in front either. We delude ourselves into speaking of our past and future as if we possessed them. But in reality, all we possess of the future are hopes and dreams. And all we possess of the past are memories, which fade every day. In this, we are no different from any other animal that takes its living moment by moment as the Creator grants it.

Would you challenge this? Then I challenge you to go back in time and correct the mistakes and regrets you carry today. You can't do it, because the past doesn't belong to you. Only memories remain--but like a photo, they fade over time.

And though you may consider yourself a strong willed and motivated person to bend the future to your will, the testimony of countless millions is that the future never turns out like we planned it. This is because the future doesn't belong to the natural man. Whether we acknowledge the influence of fate or Divine Providence, rarely, if ever has a successful person in the twilight of life looked back and said, That's just the way I planned it to happen.

The words of this poem were found etched on an ancient sundial without a signature, and speak of this dilemma.

The shadow of my finger cast

Divides the future from the past;

Before it stands the unborn hour

In darkness and beyond thy power;

Behind its unreturning line

The vanished hour, no longer thine

One hour alone is in thy hands

The now on which the shadow stands.

Take heart though! We were intended for more than the natural life. Consider the words of the Apostle Paul:

Colossians 3:1-4
(1)  Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand.
(2)  Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.
(3)  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
(4)  And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory.

To Paul, our old two dimensional life was something to be laid down in order to receive the fullness of eternal life with Christ. The natural life's grand purpose was to give us opportunity to lay hold of real life. Consider that a life without Christ is merely a token--a shadowy picture that may hint at the life that Christ has reserved for believers. And the most valuable commodity that any person owns is the now on which the hourglass shadow stands, when we are given the chance to lay hold of eternal life.

Paul said that the believer's real life is hidden with Christ in God. This means that as the unbelieving world did not recognize Christ, neither do they recognize the nobility and royalty that is latent within the soul of a true believer. Unfortunately, sometimes neither do we of the Christian community recognize it within our brothers and sisters.

I do not recall the exact wording, but I remember that my favorite author C.S. Lewis said something along these lines. Lewis wrote that we should be very careful to maintain respect and honor among believers, because if we were to meet a believer in their glorified state, we would be tempted to fall down and worship them--just as John fell down to worship the revelatory angel who was afterwards revealed to be a glorified human (Rev. 22:9). And while in this life we may not always be aware of the glory and honor that is given as the heritage of the saints, in the eternal now of God, His children are already full of glory.

I am thankful that God in His wonderful grace caused me to know the futility and transiency of the natural life, and showed me that there was a solid, three dimensional eternal life to be had in Christ. I still cannot change my past, but I am satisfied that my past has been redeemed to the glory of God. Now, through the marvelous work of God, those regrettable days of my past become part of my ongoing testimony of His power to save.

And while I still confess that I have little genuine control over my future, this does not worry me because I realize that my future is secure in Christ--I have surrendered my plans to him, and He is taking me to places that I don't know about yet. I do not know yet exactly what I will be in eternity--but the process of following Christ takes me closer to that knowledge every day. Ultimately, I look forward to the great day when Christ is revealed to the world, and I appear with him in the glory that He purchased for me!

Something to Glory In

Jeremiah 9:23-24
(23)  Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
(24)  But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

The prophet Jeremiah lived in a very precarious time in the history of Judah. He would live to see the city of Jerusalem overthrown by foreign armies and many of the Jews carried away captive into Babylon. While other prophets were bolstering the faith of the Jewish people to resist the invaders, Jeremiah prophesied that they should submit, for it was the sovereign will of God that the Jews should endure a 70 year captivity.

The contemporary prophets were leading the unrepentant populace of Judah to put their faith in things that they saw as tokens of the favor of God--things such as the temple and its sacrifices. Jeremiah saw this as their attempt to glory in things that could not help save them if they didn't repent. In our text, Jeremiah warned them against trusting in their wisdom, might, or their riches.

Jeremiah substituted the word glory in place of the idea for trust.  In his mind, to put their trust in wisdom, might, or riches was equivalent to ascribing glory to those things.

I believe there is another reason the Holy Spirit, through His prophet substituted the word glory for trust. Jeremiah 9:24 appears to be related to the story of Moses' face being transfigured on Mt. Sinai when God revealed Himself to his servant. This was when God placed Moses on a rock, covered him with His own hand and passed by, while He proclaimed the divine nature to Moses.

Exodus 34:5-7
(5)  And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
(6)  And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
(7)  Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

Exodus 34:29
(29)  And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

 This was the revelation that physically transfigured Moses so that his face literally glowed with the divine glory. Thereafter, Moses was forced to wear a covering over his face when speaking to the children of Israel, because they could not bear to see the divine glory that was reflecting on his face!

What was the glory about? It was that after this experience, he knew and understood the Almighty God. Specifically, it was that he was made to understand how grace and justice coexist and interact in God's dealings with mankind. How can God be merciful, yet maintain His own righteousness?

God revealed Himself as overwhelming merciful and longsuffering toward broken, sinful men. He keeps mercy--meaning that he does not quickly remove his mercy when fallen men take it for granted. His mercy calls men to repentance and gives them the opportunity to come to him for forgiveness and restoration.

But God will not let the guilty go unpunished. God's mercy grants opportunity for men to repent. But those who are obstinate and unrepentant over time toward that mercy thereby store up for themselves His accumulated wrath and judgment. A day of reckoning will come--make no mistake about it. For those of us who have repented and put our trust in Jesus Christ, that day of reckoning fell on Christ when he hung on the cross at Calvary. But God will not be mocked. To reject God's grace is to build up the measure of guilt and punishment that a person will eventually receive. Those who have been given the most grace, but have continued in their sinful state without repentance, will find the day of reckoning most unpleasant.

Those who teach that the grace of God frees us from the responsibility of repentance, as long as we say the sinner's prayer and profess to believe in Christ--these do not truly know God. The glory of God is that His grace leads us to repentance and conversion. We can then submit to His work in our lives as He begins the process of making us into the image of Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:11-14
(11)  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
(12)  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
(13)  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
(14)  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.