The Weightiness of Worship
“Because our God is holy, He is actively hostile to sin.
God can only burn on and on against sin forever.”
A. W. Tozer
Have you ever heard of the expression “the weightiness of worship?” Where in the Bible have you seen this? Allen Ross states, “For worship to be as glorious as it should be, for it to lift people out of their mundane cares and fill them with adoration and praise, for it to be the life-changing experience it was designed to be, it must be inspired by a vision so great and so glorious that what we call worship will be transformed from a routine gathering into a transcendent meeting with the living God.” (1)
Let that thought soak in for a moment. Worship is a transcendent meeting with the living God. That’s a pretty high desire. This can only happen by worshiping God in his glory and holiness.
The Holiness of God
To understand the term “holy,” let’s first examine its antonym, “profane.” Ross defines “profane” as "anything common, ordinary, or secular–not set apart.”(2) However, “holy” means to be set apart, distinct, and unique. When we set the terms “profane” and “holy” against each other, we can understand God’s holiness a little more clearly. Because God is holy, he cannot abide sin in his presence. Thus, when we enter his presence in corporate worship, it is important to confess our sins to God and repent, knowing that he will grant us assurance and forgiveness.
Theologian Bryan Chapell writes, "you cannot receive the holiness of God without exposing your own sin, your utter unworthiness, and the necessity of worship. What should God’s people understand when he reveals his holiness? Their unholiness.”(3) When did you last prepare yourself for weekly corporate worship by confessing your sin before your holy God? We do not have to look far in the Bible to see people who offered worship in an unholy manner, which God rejected. In Leviticus 10, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu offered unholy fire before the Lord, and God immediately killed them for their lack of holiness in offering pure worship.
A point of clarification: We do not live under the Old Testament Law. Since Jesus, we worship in spirit and truth (John 4). But the holiness of God has not changed. Do we approach worship each week as something to endure? Are we more excited about the people we will see at church, or about the God we will worship? Do we get energized by the spectacle of worship, or do we confess our sin and rely solely on our High Priest Jesus to carry our worship to our Father? How we approach weekly worship is an overflow of our hearts. Therefore, we must ask God to purify any sinfulness in our hearts so we can worship him with pure hearts.
Further, God’s holiness is seen clearly in Isaiah’s vision, which is recorded in Isaiah 6: “‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’” Having been in God's presence, Isaiah realized the depth of his sin in light of God’s holiness. A.W. Tozer states, “It should help us to be concerned about the quality of our worship when we consider that Isaiah’s reaction was a feeling of absolute profaneness in the presence of the moral purity of the divine Being.”(4)
Isaiah 6 holds so many wonderful depths concerning worship, but if we focus solely on the holiness of God in this passage, we see that Isaiah was completely and utterly undone in God’s presence. The glory of God weighed so heavily upon Isaiah that he felt his unworthiness and sinfulness in his worship. According to Ross, when the Bible uses the term “glory” in reference to God, it means “he is the most important or preeminent person in this or any other universe.”(5) Ross further states that “worship” refers to “the appropriate response to the revelation of the holy God of glory.”(6)
God’s Holiness Transferred
Chappel continues, “Greater than the holiness transcendent is the holiness transferred - not merely the glory of holiness, but the glory of grace.”(7) Referencing Isaiah 6 again, the passage continues, “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’” In this moment, heaven reaches down and cleanses the sinner. Through Jesus' death and resurrection, God has imputed his holiness to us.
When we gather with fellow believers each week, this is what we celebrate! Through Jesus’ death, our sins are forgiven. Through his resurrection, we can receive his righteousness. As long as we have breath, we live in this reality. By keeping this unfathomable thought in view, we cannot help but realize our unworthiness in worship. It is only because of Jesus that we have access to the Father, and it is the Spirit who leads us in sanctification. These truths are more than our finite minds can bear, which further exemplifies why we worship the one true God!
Conclusion
So let me pause and ask again, do you worship God in his holiness each week? Is there a weightiness in your worship in which you realize the depth of your sin in contrast to the holiness of God? Do you take the time to confess your sin before the God of glory?
The challenge for us as believers is to recognize the depth and weightiness of worship each week and prepare our hearts and minds before we enter into worship. When we gather with other believers to sing in worship each week, we must remember that God has initiated our worship by inviting us into his presence. When we keep this in perspective, the focus shifts from a selfish, inward concern and moves to our holy God.
I encourage you to take time to examine how you approach worship and how you worship each week. Take time to read Isaiah 6:1-8 and meditate on God’s holiness. As Tozer preached, “May God show us a vision of ourselves that will disvalue us to the point of total devaluation. From there He can raise us up to worship Him and to praise Him and to witness.”8
(1) Allen P. Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory: Biblical Worship from the Garden to the New Creation (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2006), 39.
(2) Ross, Recalling, 43.
(3) Bryan Chapell, “God’s Glory Revealed” in The God We Worship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2016), 5.
(4) A.W. Tozer, Worship: The Reason We Were Created (Chicago: Moody, 2017), 80.
(5) Ross, Recalling, 47.
(6) Ross, Recalling, 50.
(7) Chapell, “God’s Glory Revealed,” 6.
(8) Tozer, Worship, 85.
Kim lives in Oklahoma with her husband Jason and they have one adult son. She is Visiting Professor of Music and Worship at Oklahoma Baptist University and enjoys teaching classes on various aspects of worship studies. Kim completed her Ph.D. in Church Music and Worship from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and also holds degrees in Music History and Piano Performance from other universities. She enjoys spending time with her family in God’s creation, quilting, reading, and drinking good tea.
