i. 13. _It is iniquity, even this solemn meeting._
+I. Public worship is a thing of Divine appointment.+ A considerable
part of the earlier books of Scripture is occupied with injunctions
to observe it, and with directions for its conduct. All the best men
of ancient times made public worship part of the business of their
lives. David, Josiah, Hezekiah, Ezra, and Nehemiah made great
sacrifices that it might be duly honoured. Our Lord Himself, who set
aside the traditions of men, was careful to observe this Divine
ordinance; besides attending the great feasts, He attended the
synagogue every Sabbath-day (Luke iv. 16). The apostles and early
Christians were in this respect His true followers (Acts ii. 46;
iii. 1). And we are expressly warned against neglect of it (Heb.
x. 24, 25). +II. Public worship may be a means of communion with
God.+ It was this possibility that induced men to build the Temple,
that there might be a recognised place of meeting, not only with each
other, but with God. There God did often meet with them (Ps.
lxiii. 2, xxvii. 4, &c.) The temple now is wherever devout men are
assembled for worship, and God, in the person of His Son, has
expressly promised to be in their midst (Matt. xviii. 20).
+III. Consequently public worship may be a thing of the highest
profit to man.+ Upon those to whom communion with God is indeed
vouchsafed, public worship exerts a transforming and ennobling
influence.[1] They are uplifted for a season above the cares, the
sorrows, and the joys of life; they receive new strength for the
performance of life's duties and the bearing of life's burdens; from
the mount of supplication they come down bearing a more real and
abiding likeness to God than that which in the old time gave to the
countenance of Moses an overwhelming splendour. +IV. It may also be a
thing supremely acceptable to God.+ When His children assemble to
unite in expressing their common thankfulness, trust, and love for
Him, He listens with fatherly delight.[2] Compared with angelic
worship, human worship is a very poor and imperfect thing; it is but
an earthen vessel compared with a chalice of silver or of gold; but
the emotions of gratitude, trust, and love with which it is filled,
make it precious in His sight. There is a reversal of our Lord's
saying (Matt. xxiii. 19): the rude altar is hallowed by the spiritual
sacrifice.
These are some of the possibilities of public worship; but they are
not the only ones. The reverse of all this may be true. The worship
may be observed and offered without any real regard to the Divine
will and pleasure; it may separate God and men still more widely; it
may be a curse to those who partake in it, and it may be a grievous
offence to the Holy One of Israel.
Let us recall some of the things in connection with public worship
which are apt to satisfy men. They are such as these: a crowded
assembly; sweet singing; a noble liturgy; an eloquent sermon; a large
collection. When these things are combined in any service, we are apt
to felicitate ourselves exceedingly. But upon that very service God
may look with unqualified condemnation. The crowd may have assembled
for reasons very far removed from a desire to worship God; the
singing may have been merely an artistic performance; the liturgy may
have been made up of prayers such as that which a newspaper described
as "the most eloquent ever _addressed to a Boston audience;_" the
sermon may have had for its supreme object the glorification of the
preacher; the contributors to the collection may have been moved
merely by a desire to place the name of their congregation at the
head of the subscription-list published in the newspapers on the
following day. The whole thing may have been of the earth, earthy,
and this may have been God's verdict concerning it, "It is iniquity,
even the solemn meeting."
What, then, are the elements in worship essential to its acceptance
with God? 1. _That it be offered by His people._ Not from rebels
against His authority will He accept expressions of homage;[3] in
their lips such expressions are mockeries vile and horrible as those
wherewith in Pilate's judgment-hall the Roman soldiers jeered at the
Son of God (Matt. xxvii. 27-29). 2. _That it be offered with
reverence,_ with that sweet and solemn awe which is born of a
recognition of God's nearness and of His exceeding glory (Ps.
lxxxix. 7).[4] 3. _That it be the expression of love_--love singing
in the hymns, breathing in the prayers, awakening "godly sorrow" for
the sins of the past, leading to sincere and resolute dedication of
the whole being to God for the future. Where these principles animate
the worshippers, they will be governed by them also in daily life;
their whole life will be a service and sacrifice well-pleasing in the
sight of God, and what are called their "acts of worship" will not be
artificial flowers stuck on to dead and rotting branches for their
adornment, but sweet, natural blossoms, upon which God will smile,
and which He will pronounce "very good."