Worship: Our Attitude Toward God

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Revelation 4:11

Nearly everyone has had the experience of meeting someone particularly dignified, but in a quiet, unassuming way. That person doesn’t say much about himself, yet he projects an incandescent, warm self-confidence.

He seems so genuinely interested in you that you speak freely and openly with him in the casual, familiar every-day talk you use at home or with close friends—the kind you would never use around your boss or pastor.

Only later, you learn the person with whom you spoke is an important industrialist, a distinguished diplomat, or a celebrated speaker. When the breadth of his accomplishments becomes known to you, your attitude changes sharply. You would never again speak to that person with such casually chosen words, expressing such capricious thoughts. The next time, if there would ever be a next time, you would rehearse every word carefully before you spoke. You would carefully frame each thought to show the respect due such an important person.

Why is it, then, that we display such a casual, even capricious, attitude when speaking to Him who “created all things,” and through whom all things have their being?

Our family once attended a tawdry, gimmicky religious meeting. As the minutes painfully ticked away, I slumped deeper and deeper into my chair. The meeting organizers created a freakish, carnival-like atmosphere, like a sideshow off the midway. The barker hawked religious souvenirs with Brother Love’s zeal. I couldn’t help but wonder, Would they be a little bit embarrassed if they learned Jesus had sat on the front row?

If we ponder who God really is before we carelessly utter any remark before or about Him, surely we will render a more considered, respectful utterance. This is no different from the respect we would show the distinguished stranger if we knew his true identity. When once we see Him as He really is, the trite or casual remark no longer seems appropriate.

In fact, when we know the God who is, our first reaction is to hide from the awfulness of His presence. We want to see the face of God, until the presence of His glory draws near. Then, we want Him to hide us in the cleft of a rock. His presence is like peals of thunder and the fierce winds of a violent storm, and we reconsider the foolishness of our whim to see Him. He is a holy God. Not only holy—but holy, holy, holy. “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come’” (Revelation 4:8).

The Cue from “Other” Created Beings

In heaven one hundred million loyal angels will encircle the throne of God and sing in a loud voice, “‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’” (Revelation 5:12). The four living creatures, those beings allowed closest to His throne say, “Holy, holy, holy.” The elders who sit on the twenty-four thrones which surround the throne cry out, "You are worthy.”

After that “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them” will sing, “‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’” (Revelation 5:13). You and I will be “every creature.”

Let us reconsider who God is—His power, His wealth, His wisdom, His glory, His honor, His praise. Let us take our cue from the living creatures, the elders, and the angels. Let us not approach the God who is holy, holy, holy with caprice or unthinking casualness.

Let us come into His presence with praise and thanksgiving, but also in sober recognition that we are in the presence of the Holy. “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence.” (Hebrews 4:16), but with the bearing and respect we would show to the One whose identity we have learned: the God who is, who created all things, in whom we have our being.

When you come apart to meet with God, consider these statements as you begin your time in His presence. Pause and meditate upon them:

• Father, I come to meet with You… Meet with me.
• Lord Jesus, I come to meet with You… Meet with me.
• Holy Spirit, I come to meet with You… Meet with me.

Enter into the presence of the God who is with the respect and honor and praise He is due. Do it as you would when you learn the identity of the dignified stranger.

I SURRENDER

Father, my attitude has been capricious and overly casual. I have not shown You the respect due Your name. I abandon the specious ways in which I have spoken to You. I humble myself. Hide me in a cleft in the rock so that I will not perish when Your glory passes by me. I surrender my unthinking attitude toward the privilege of entering the holiness of Your presence. Amen.