The Heart of Worship

The Heart of Worship

“The Heart of Worship” by Matt Redman is on my heart as I study through Isaiah 58. What does the mighty God of heaven and earth require in worship? How do I know if I am living this life of worship to my God, in a way that isn't pleasing? He truly does search much deeper within, through the way things appear, and look into my heart. If everything looks right on the outside, what's the big deal? How can I bring more than a song? Oh Lord, help me.

“Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, as a nation that has done righteousness and has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, they delight in the nearness of God.” Is 58:2. It really sounds like the nation of Israel had it figured out! They were seeking God day by day, they were delighting to know His ways. They sought to be a nation that had done righteousness and had not forsaken the ordinance of their God, the God of their ancestors. They were not only going through the motions, but they had those motions down pat! Yet they were asking the Lord, “'Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?'” This is me! I have been here, I see my very own flesh in the Israelites of Isaiah, and am absolutely broken at the thought of my just going through the motions of Christianity, while my heart has been far from the Lord. I can't help but echo the cry of Paul in Romans 7:24, “Wretched (wo)man that I am! Who will set me free from this body of death?” Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Lord answers their cries, “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one's head like a reed and for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?” (Is 58: 4,5). Fasting is a form of worship that was well known by the Israelites. Have you ever fasted in a way that made your head to bow like a reed? Have you fasted so hard, that you made for yourself a bed of sackcloth and ashes? I have never worshipped, prayed, or fasted to this level of intensity. The Israelites had. And it was so loathsome to God, that He sent His prophet Isaiah to tell them so. Who is this God we serve? What worship, what sacrifice, does He desire? “ “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, and goats.. Bring your worthless offerings no longer..” Is 1:11-13. He says He is fed up with their attempts! A group that, from the outside, looked so totally devoted that they were willing to sleep in ashes, but God says they were loathsome to Him. Oh Lord, help me know You more! Let me understand Your truth, so I can truly come to You with a heart of worship!

“Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke?” Is 58:6. We serve a God who desires the bonds of wickedness to be broken in the flesh of His creation. “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Gal 5:1. We serve a God who desires for us to look to Him for our righteousness, and never to our own acts of fasting or worship for righteousness.

“Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not hide yourself from your own flesh?” (Is 58:7). We serve a God who desires His people to fast in the way of the good Samaritan of Luke 10:25-37; a God who has created us “in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Eph 2:10. True worship that our precious Father requires, is a humble heart of service. The beggar willing to show the other beggar where the bread is, this is true worship. Oh God, lead us back to the heart of worship.

I close this devotional with promises that are true. To the one who brings the level of worship our Father desires, “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.' If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday. And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.” (Is 58:8-11)

Lord Jesus, give me this true heart of worship, the worship You desire. Let me stay far from going through the emotions that you loath, away from seeking to worship based on my own righteousness, seeking what I can and can not do, and draw near to You with a softened heart of flesh rather than stone. I pray for the people of Grace Covenant Baptist Church to be a people who want to serve You in truth and in Spirit, being keen to the deeds of the flesh (Gal5:19-21), and always fleeing from the yoke that brings bondage (the religious acts we like to invent). By the power of Your Holy Spirit, “let us lay aside every encumberance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1,2 Amen.