WORSHIP: IT’S MORE THAN A SONG

In Isaiah 6 we read of the prophet Isaiah’s life changing worship experience. That particular event in the Temple may never be duplicated again. It does not need to. The vision of God, however, can be experienced…again and again. Isaiah had a vision of God as Sovereign, Majestic and Holy. God is the same yesterday, today and forever more. We do not need to duplicate Isaiah’s Temple experience or Moses’ burning bush experience. What we do need is the experience of seeing God exalted, high and lifted up. We want to have in our mind’s eye and heart a vision of God, who He is and what He has done for us. We need a clear and accurate biblical picture of who God is and what He has done. That will allow and enable us to do what John 4:24 says…to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

In the Isaiah 6 story, verse 4 says the Temple was filled with smoke. That intrigues me. Why smoke? Seems like that kind of hides some details. Exactly! Even though God is taking the initiative to reveal Himself to us, there is always much of God we cannot see or understand. I believe that goes against the grain of our human nature. We, especially with our western minds, feel we have the right to know everything. If there is something to be known, we should be able to know it. I really do believe there is a part of our human nature that would very much like to have a “God in the Box” that we could examine, understand and then...wait for it…control. Hence, the smoke filled Temple. Isaiah, a very religious man by profession, has an encounter with God like none other he ever experienced. He learned more about God in one encounter that he did in all his years of training and study. Again, that is precisely the point. God’s desire is not just that we know ABOUT God…He desires that we KNOW Him. John 4:23-24 says “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” Imagine, the Sovereign, Majestic, Holy God is seeking you and desiring that you know and worship Him. We cannot, and do not need to, duplicate Isaiah’s experience in the Temple. We can have one of our own. Let me close with one of my favorite poems. See you Sunday, good Lord willing,


Pastor Tom

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

“Earth's crammed with heaven, 

And every common bush afire with God, 

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes;

The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”