Our truest worship comes when we know both in a “thrilled soul” and in facts from Scripture about the God that we are worshiping. When knowledge about God meets love for God, the converted soul's most natural, indeed supernatural, reaction is to pour out everything in worshiping Him. He is the God that we hated when we were born into this fallen world. Yet, in His mercy He caused us to hate our sins, turn from them, and flee to Him, the Savior and satisfaction of our souls. The truly converted soul can never have satisfaction in trash anymore than a civilized human can enjoy eating pig slop.
The thoughts of the satisfied believer remain dominated by the One who is truly gracious, merciful, holy, just, beautiful, faithful, loving, powerful, worthy of all praise, and mighty to save.
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In a time of fellowship, a brother told me that he had never once attended a church service where every song in their worship set was theologically correct. It saddened me to hear this, but it does not greatly differ from my experiences with churches. With many churches content to use any popular Christian song that cultural Christianity is cranking out as a worship song, a lot of worship sets have at least one song in them that lacks depth or uses false doctrine. I recently got to visit a large church with a well-known pastor and great doctrine. Their worship songs, which included hymns and more modern songs, were all highly Christ-centered and Biblically accurate.
But what surprised me was that the crowd was solemn to a degree that I have not seen except in some Presbyterian churches. It was a quite yuppie church with a parking lot full of Beemers and Benzes. It seemed like one of the McChurch-y megachurches in some ways, but with far better teaching than most of them have. Yet in a large auditorium, few people could get excited about God. You don't need to have your hands up, although it is Biblically permitted as a correct way to worship (Psalm 63). And I realize that church cultures are different. But is it too much to expect that at least some of the people in there would occasionally look happy?
Why do people that go insane over football and baseball look funereal at church, especially at one that teaches so much truth and a high view of God? I don’t know about you, but I ride roller coasters to know what it is like to be excited – and then try to translate that into zeal for God in everyday worship. A hobby is not worth pursuing if it cannot bring any glory to God, so search for ways to make His name great in whatever you do. And if there are none, why waste your time?
But, even as truth alone is not sufficient, passion alone is not sufficient either. Many Christians go crazy in worship for the sake of going crazy in worship while not really trying to understand what they are singing about. You need passion and the truth. So go ride your favorite rides; and then read the Word of God, with a book by John Piper and Jonathan Edwards's Resolutions along with it.
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“God’s purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory… [T]hose two are one passion.”
- Jonathan Edwards
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Please also see Lyrical Theology for the words to Shai Linne's song, "The Greatest Story Ever Told".
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“Our desire must be not only toward the good things that God gives, but toward God Himself, His favor and love, the manifestations of His name to us, and the influences of His grace upon us. We wait on God when our souls pant after Him and His favor, when we thirst for the living God. Oh, that I may behold the beauty of the Lord! Oh, that I may taste His goodness! Oh, that I may bear His image and be entirely conformed to His will! For there is none on heaven or earth that I will desire in comparison with Him. Oh, that I may know Him more, love Him better, be brought nearer to Him, and be made fitter for Him. Thus, upon the wings of holy desire, our souls should still be soaring upward toward God, still pressing forward, forward toward Heaven.”
- Matthew Henry, Experiencing God's Presence.
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