Reverence in Worship - Ecclesiastes 5:1-7; Psalm 84:1-4, 10

by David Woods

What is "true worship"? From my background of the conservative holiness movement, "true worship" has always seemed to be regarded as a sort of a spontaneous expression, usually characterized by lots of singing, shouting, and even running in the aisles.

When my brother Jonathan and I were in high school, we were invited by a Baptist friend to join him and some of the young men from his church for a short Bible study and some great basketball on a Saturday morning. I still remember that worship (and play) time with fondness.

While in college, I attended several PromiseKeeper events where thousands of other Christian men experienced a wonderful time of worship, singing traditional hymns that had been set to more contemporary arrangements, as well as contemporary choruses.

The most meaningful time of worship for me in my two pastorates happened a few weeks ago when we actually devoted our Wednesday prayer meeting to prayer. We sang a song or two and shared prayer needs, but in the time of prayer, I felt God's presence like I had not felt in some time.

Every week, I endeavor to call the people I pastor to worship. I try to get them to put aside daily concerns and focus on Christ. I try to emphasize that worship is not just singing, but that we worship God in our prayer time, our offering, our testimonies, and in the preaching of the Word.

I have to admit, though, that often I fail to truly worship God. I am too involved thinking about what I have to say next, or playing the right notes on my bass guitar, or trying to deliver my sermon well to focus on God.

What does it mean to truly worship God? I believe our two scripture texts for this lesson teach us that:

Big Idea: The true worshiper magnifies God in his/her heart.

1. A true worshiper gives serious attention to God, Eccl. 5:1-3.*

Discussion: What is the "sacrifice of fools"?

Discussion: What are some ways we are "rash with [our] mouth" in our worship services?
(I would suggest it could be the preacher/song leader who has not thought out carefully what they will say at different times during the service and just ramble on, the person who stands to testify who does so more to talk - and talk about himself/herself than to confess Christ, etc.)

My first "permanent" job was with a grocery store. I first worked returning shopping carts from the parking lot (and keeping people from stealing them). Eventually, I was promoted to junior clerk. My function was to do price checks and to return unwanted goods to the proper shelves.

I often was part of the crew that closed the store. There were several nights that I had a bunch of go-backs still to return to the shelves after the store had closed. The stockers were already busy and I was trying to return items still.

One night I dreamed that I ended up working the whole night trying to put go-backs in their proper place. I was further frustrated by the fact that they had changed the aisles. They had even started carrying some items our store had never carried!

When I woke up, I decided that I had been working a little too hard a little too long! ;) I did not realize until today that there is a scripture about what happened to me (v. 3). ;)

This verse is written in the context of worship.

Discussion: What is the connection between much talking, dreaming, and improper worship?

2. A true worshiper fulfills a serious commitment to God, Eccl. 5:4-7.

Discussion: What are some of the reasons why people make rash vows/pledges to God?

Discussion: What concept of God does the making of rash vows reveal?

3. A true worshiper cultivates a serious hunger for God, Ps. 84:1-4, 10.

Discussion: Do we long to come to church so that we can worship God?

Discussion: What are some of the reasons why sometimes Christians have an apathetic or even negative attitude about worship?

Discussion: How can we encourage people to be more motivated about coming to church and worshiping God?

* Outline is from the "Doctrinal Discussion" portion of this lesson in the Adult Teacher's Insights.