Heart of Worship

Adapted from Mike Gong on the "Heart of Worship" from a worship leader's perspective:

We begin with a biblical lesson from history. 2 Chronicles 26, as the title suggests, chronicles the life of this one-time king: Uzziah, King of Judah, a man whose position was analogous to that assumed by any worship leader who has had the privilege to step up on the podium. By the time of Uzziah's coming the kingdom of Israel was a shadow of it's former glory. The kingdom had been divided in two: one of which still bore the name 'Israel' and occupied the northern lands, whilst the other was called 'Judah' and was in the south. Many of the kings that came after this division sought to unify the lands and restore Israel to the power and prosperity of its Golden Age, in the time of such great kings as Solomon and David. Naturally, they failed.

But along comes our hero Uzziah, and chapter 26 of 2 Chronicles details the remarkable strides he made in trying to achieve what many of his predecessors had failed to do. Uzziah was, in short, a mighty king who "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done." Indeed, such were his achievements that "his fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful." Tragedy befalls however, for in the next verse it is said "But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall."

Uzziah went into the temple to burn incense to the Lord, a rite which only the priests could perform, and not the efforts of Azariah the priest and 80 other "courageous priests" could dissuade him from making the attempt. Uzziah was made sore wroth by this, and "while he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar at in the Lord's temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead." Uzziah never again set foot in his own palace, and his son Jotham succeeded him as ruler while he yet lived.

So how does the life-story of this once great king Uzziah concern us? The answer principally lies in verse 15, where it is stated -and this is important enough to bear reiteration- that "his fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped." Things went down the moment Uzziah forgot who really ran the show. This is something all worship leaders need to bear mind. There is a saying, that you can plant a seed but God waters it and makes it grow. It is the with the audience, of course. A worship leader does as worship leaders do but it is God who stirs the hearts of the people.

Having said that, Mike draws our attention to a certain prophet who lived in Uzziah's time, Isaiah. As one of the greatest prophets who lived, Isaiah got certain things right when it came to worshiping the Lord that Uzziah didn't. Isaiah 6 details a vision that the prophet had. In it is mentioned two seraphs, "each with six wings, and with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying." And the things that Isaiah witnessed elicited this response from him:

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

How we see God determines how we worship him. We are to remember first of all that God is Holy. God's holiness denotes separation. It is with God's holiness in mind that the seraphim cover their faces and feet; and also what leads to Isaiah's curious lament. The point however, is that both actions arise from humility. From the seraphim, angelic beings who acknowledge God's holiness, majesty and sovereignty, to Isaiah, a man and therefore a sinner like all of us, who fears the sight of the Lord because to see God face to face is like a dry leaf to be near a roaring furnace.

There is a pagan story of the Greek god Zeus, who incarnate in the flesh once took a mortal wife. Zeus promises to grant her any wish, much like the Herod who promised the same to the daughter of Herodias. The mortal wished then to see Zeus in his full glory. Regretfully, but nevertheless bound by his word, Zeus acqueisces and his wife is destroyed by the manifestation of his divinity.

There is a lesson Christians might take from this story, and from Uzziah's life-story and Isaiah's vision. Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is this fear, or reverence if you like, that moves us to the right posture of mind, spirit and heart. Churches today have an unfortunate habit of forgetting about God's righteousness. We like to bring God down to our level, and we sing songs about Jesus being like a friend to us. This is true of course, but only to a certain extent. We cannot become 'paly-paly' with God. Our God is a God to whom our finest acts are but filthy rags in His sight. His holiness is so absolute it will tolerate no sin, and the bible makes it clear on so many occasions that we are a fallen race.

But as we say on many a Sunday morning service, He is a God whose property is always to have mercy. That mercy, of course, is Jesus' death on the cross for our sins, to reconcile man to God. It is good to remember this, the epitome of God's love; but it should not eclipse God's righteousness or indeed his holiness. Where the heart of worship is concerned, it does not do to emphasize one to the exclusion of the others. Nor should we forget, of course, that God is good. After all, He blesses Uzziah and prospers Judah immensely. It is only through Uzziah's fault that this blessing is withdrawn.

Thus, it is hard to reconcile 'friend' with 'Lord', 'saviour' and 'master'. Revelation 1: 12-16 describes Jesus in his full glory. For those reading who do not have the inclination to search for the verse, suffice to say that it is not a very homely or welcoming image. However, this same Jesus in glory fully revealed is the same Jesus who said 'let the little children come to me.' The Lion of Judah is also the lamb of God.

Sometimes we think that singing is all there is to worship; that worship starts at 8:30 and ends at 10:30 or such. Worship leaders therefore, worry a great deal about getting the 'worship' right- about choosing the right songs, rehearsing enough or getting the atmosphere just right. Not that any of this is wrong, in fact it is good, but only when done for the glory of God. Our voices, however beautiful, is nothing but the sound of rebellion if not in the praise of God. The focus, first and foremost, should be on God. Get this right and all the rest will follow.

So why do we talk about God's holiness, righteousness and love when we should be talking about the heart of worship? Because to worship in a way that pleases the Lord you must first know what pleases a holy, righteous and loving God. You don't take your father out to an Italian restraunt on Father's Day when you know he likes Thai food. You do things his way, in his timing on his day, not your way in your timing as though it is your day.

Who are we meant to satisfy, God or ourselves? Because if the answer is God, you had better make sure you have the heart of worship that God is pleased with.