Worship Is Truly Delighting in God
Our worship of God should not be a disinterested act of exalting God. Rather, true worship must be an act of delighting in God. John Piper puts it well: "Worship is nothing less than obedience to the command of God, 'Delight yourself in the LORD” (Psalm 37:4).'"
It is critical to see the point here. When we come to worship God, we don't do this with a heart that says, "I worship you even though I want something else" or "I worship you because I want something else." Rather, a heart of worship says, "I worship you because I want nothing else." That is, a true heart of worship finds its greatest delight, its most profound pleasure in God.
A heart that worships God believing that it is sacrificing something it values more in order to show God how much it values God misses the point. We don't tell our spouses, our children, those who we love most deeply, "Look! I think you're great! Obviously, I value you because I'm here rather than being where I really want to be with someone else I'd rather be with." If we say that to them, we've effectively told them, "See how great I am because really I'm sacrificing what I really want to be here with you. I'm spending time with you even though I don't value you as much as I value that other person." That devalues those we love.
Likewise, if we think that worship is showing God that we are willing to sacrifice that which we value more than Him, we've missed the point. The point of worship is to find our delight in God, not show Him we are willing to sacrifice that which we love more than Him to prove that we love Him. As Piper says, "You simply can’t say to God, 'I want to be satisfied in You so that I can have something else.' Because that would mean that you are not really satisfied in God but in that something else. And that would dishonor God, not worship Him."
So when you find your greatest pleasure in God, when you take your greatest delight in Him, then you have found the heart of true worship. Because true worship does begrudgingly sacrifice things we love more than God. True worship delights in God because we love nothing more!
It is critical to see the point here. When we come to worship God, we don't do this with a heart that says, "I worship you even though I want something else" or "I worship you because I want something else." Rather, a heart of worship says, "I worship you because I want nothing else." That is, a true heart of worship finds its greatest delight, its most profound pleasure in God.
A heart that worships God believing that it is sacrificing something it values more in order to show God how much it values God misses the point. We don't tell our spouses, our children, those who we love most deeply, "Look! I think you're great! Obviously, I value you because I'm here rather than being where I really want to be with someone else I'd rather be with." If we say that to them, we've effectively told them, "See how great I am because really I'm sacrificing what I really want to be here with you. I'm spending time with you even though I don't value you as much as I value that other person." That devalues those we love.
Likewise, if we think that worship is showing God that we are willing to sacrifice that which we value more than Him, we've missed the point. The point of worship is to find our delight in God, not show Him we are willing to sacrifice that which we love more than Him to prove that we love Him. As Piper says, "You simply can’t say to God, 'I want to be satisfied in You so that I can have something else.' Because that would mean that you are not really satisfied in God but in that something else. And that would dishonor God, not worship Him."
So when you find your greatest pleasure in God, when you take your greatest delight in Him, then you have found the heart of true worship. Because true worship does begrudgingly sacrifice things we love more than God. True worship delights in God because we love nothing more!
