Worship

Part 10 - Informal Worship

We've established the principle that worship is an entrance into the heavenly realm of the sanctuary of God's New Testament temple composed of people like you and me. God resides in His temple; He meets with His people. Because God governs how we enter heaven, He governs this formal worship. There is little sympathy for this principle in the broad evangelical culture. A college professor put it to me this way. I appreciate the psalms but when do I get to sing my songs. This is the essence of it. It is the nub of our differences with other denominations and churches.

We see the outworking of the position in church signs, "Informal Worship and Celebration Tonight." Informality is in. Formality is out. Do we find a distinction between informal and formal worship in the Bible? Indeed we do. Those who vie for contemporary informal worship lean on particular texts for their support.

One such passage is Exodus 15:20-21. "Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing. Miriam answered them, 'Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.'" There is little doubt this is a scene of worship and celebration. It is informal and spontaneous. There is dancing and singing. It is a national celebration.

We see a similar sort of thing when the Holy Spirit anoints Saul to rule over Israel. Samuel told Saul, "You will come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and they will be prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man" (1 Samuel 10:5-6).

At the time He made Saul king over Israel, God had not abandoned His plans for formal worship in Israel. The tabernacle and alter of God were at Shiloh. Here the priests were to carry out their God appointed duties. God implemented this worship in the time of Moses. God directed this worship through the words of Moses. God required and regulated this formal worship. This formal worship at the tabernacle also gave way to the God directed formal worship of the temple.

What about the more informal worship settings? Certainly the two just mentioned involve special circumstances. In addition, the character of this worship, with its music and dancing, reflects the contemporary culture. When God warns apostate Judah, notice His words. "Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; but they do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord" (Isaiah 5:12). Judgment includes the cessation of banquet and celebration. "All the merry-hearted sigh. The gaiety of tambourines ceases, the noise of revelers stops, the gaiety of the harp ceases" (Isaiah 24:7-8). Restoration means a return to the joy of banquets and celebrations. "Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! Again you will take up your tambourines, and go forth to the dances of the merrymakers" (Jeremiah 31:4).

We should grasp two points. They both need further discussion and exploration. The Old Testament reveals a distinction between the formal worship of God and informal worship settings. God instituted formal worship but informal worship derives its character from the contemporary culture.