{"id":3395,"date":"2015-08-17T00:00:53","date_gmt":"2015-08-17T07:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/?p=3395"},"modified":"2015-08-16T23:56:58","modified_gmt":"2015-08-17T06:56:58","slug":"817-enjoy-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/2015\/08\/17\/817-enjoy-god\/","title":{"rendered":"8\/17: Enjoy God (\u8bd798:1-9 \u6797\u524d11:2-34 \u4ee3\u4e0b7:11-9:31)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u8bfb\u7ecf\uff1a\u8bd798:1-9 \u6797\u524d11:2-34 \u4ee3\u4e0b7:11-9:31<\/h2>\n

Enjoy God<\/h2>\n
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We are created to worship God. But why would God create human beings in order to receive their worship? Is this not, as some suggest, pure vanity?<\/p>\n

Many years ago I was helped in my understanding of worship through C. S. Lewis\u2019s explanation in his \u2018Reflections on the Psalms<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n

He wrote: \u2018The most obvious fact about praise\u2026 strangely escaped me\u2026 I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise\u2026 the world rings with praise … walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game \u2013 praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare books, even sometimes politicians and scholars\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018My whole, more general, difficulty about praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can\u2019t help doing, about everything else we value.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It\u2019s not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.\u2019<\/p>\n

In other words, worship is the consummation of joy. Our joy is not complete until it is expressed in worship. It is out of his love for us that God created us for worship. According to theWestminster Shorter Catechism<\/em>, humankind\u2019s \u2018chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy <\/em>him forever.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1. Singing and music<\/h2>\n

Psalm 98:1-9<\/a>The psalmist calls people to worship God in song and music: \u2018Sing <\/em>to the Lord a new song\u2026 Burst into jubilant song with music; make music<\/em> to the Lord\u2019 (vv.1,4\u20135).<\/p>\n

This psalm is full of noise, as the people are asked to celebrate God\u2019s goodness in a whole host of different ways. There is a call to sing, shout for joy, play instruments, and even applaud in our celebration of God:<\/p>\n

\u2018Shout <\/em>your praises to God, everybody!
\nLet loose and sing<\/em>! Strike up the band<\/em>!
\nRound up an orchestra <\/em>to play for God,
\nAdd on a hundred-voice choir<\/em>.
\nFeature trumpets <\/em>and big trombones<\/em>,
\nFill the air with praises <\/em>to King God.
\nLet the sea and its fish give a round of applause<\/em>,
\nWith everything living on earth joining in\u2019 (vv.4\u20137, MSG).<\/p>\n

This is all a response to what God has done for us. We are called to worship the Lord who is Saviour (vv.1\u20133), King (vv.4\u20136) and Judge (vv.7\u20139).<\/p>\n

As we read this through the lens of Jesus we can see this as a prophetic psalm. Jesus is the one at God\u2019s \u2018right hand\u2019 who has \u2018worked salvation\u2019 (v.1). He has made God\u2019s salvation known and \u2018revealed his righteousness to the nations\u2019 (v.2). (See also Romans 3:21.)<\/p>\n

There is a joyful anticipation of the universal restoration of all things when the Saviour will come to judge the earth (Psalm 98:9). Then all creation will be restored (vv.7\u20138). As St Paul puts it, \u2018The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed\u2026 the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God\u2019 (Romans 8:19\u201321).<\/p>\n

This psalm is a growing crescendo of praise \u2013 from the worshipping community of the people of God (Psalm 98:1\u20133), to all <\/em>people (vv.4\u20136) and finally to all <\/em>of creation (vv.7\u20139).<\/p>\n

Lord, I worship you today. You have done \u2018marvellous things\u2019. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for your love and faithfulness. Thank you that I can worship you with joy, jubilant songs, music and shouting. Thank you that I can be confident in the fairness of your judgment \u2013 you will judge the world in righteousness and the people with equity.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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2. Awe and thanksgiving<\/h2>\n

1 Corinthians 11:2-34<\/a>First, Paul addresses the issue of honour and propriety in worship, and in particular he looks at the role and place of women in worship. A huge amount of ink has been spilt discussing what this passage means. There is general agreement that much of it is cultural \u2013 few churches today expect women to cover their hair, for example.<\/p>\n

What is clear is that both men and women were expected to pray and prophesy in services (vv.4\u20135). It is also clear that there is an equality of the sexes and mutual dependence (vv.11\u201312): \u2018Neither man nor woman can go it alone or claim priority… let\u2019s quit going through these \u201cwho\u2019s first\u201d routines\u2019 (vv.11\u201312, MSG).<\/p>\n

Next, Paul goes onto discuss the \u2018Lord\u2019s Supper\u2019 (v.20), or \u2018the Eucharist\u2019 as he calls it elsewhere (Eucharist\u00e9in<\/em> is a Greek verb meaning \u2018to thank\u2019). It is also sometimes called \u2018Mass\u2019 or \u2018Holy Communion\u2019.<\/p>\n

This is probably the earliest account of this element in our services of worship. It has been a vital part of Christian worship for the last 2,000 years, celebrated almost universally by the church worldwide. Again, there has been a huge amount of discussion about what exactly Paul means. However, it seems to me that from this passage a number of things are clear:<\/p>\n