Why do We Worship?

What is the reason for worship? Why do we do it? Why is it a proper response to God in all of life?

Because God commands and encourages it. He said in Ex. 20:3, "you shall have no other gods before Me". People were to be exclusively committed to worshipping Him. The last words of 1 John, chapter 5, verse 21, are "little children, keep yourselves from idols".

God is worthy of it. Psalm 95:7 "we are the people of His pasture, the sheep of His hand." He inspires it because of who He is. It is rooted in His character; His attributes. God is both transcendent and immanent. Transcendent means He is independent from and superior to His creation. Immanent means He is near to us. His transcendence is reason for reverence and awe. Heb. 12:28-29 because God is a consuming fire we are to offer to Him acceptable worship with reverence and awe. His nearness is reason for rejoicing because we can know Him, love Him, experience Him. John 15:14-15; Acts 17:28 in Him we live, move and have our being. 1 Chr. 16:29 give Him the glory due Him; Ps. 29:2. He is our God, our Maker. Ps. 100:2-3; Rev. 4:8-11. Robert Shaper said "worship is ascribing all honor and worth to our Creator-God precisely because He is worthy, delightfully so." God will not give or share His glory with another. He commands us to keep ourselves from idols. He knows they will ruin us. Idolatry robs God of worship and us of our dignity as people made in God’s image. John Calvin said the human heart is an idol factory. We can make an idol out of anything. We make functional saviors out of almost anything. We must be careful not to make good things into false god things. In my own life and in the lives of those I have come in contact with over the years, things like Bible Reading, fear, hobby, marriage, homework, and the home can become idols of the heart that usurp God's rightful place in our lives.

We worship because God commands it and God deserves it.

What are the results of worship? Tune in tomorrow.