Several years ago a member of the church I was serving as pastor had not been present for worship in several months. Following work each week he would drive to the coast to fish from an ocean pier. When I tried to emphasize the importance of worship, he said, “I don’t have to be in church to worship. I can worship God when I am fishing on a pier.”
I replied, “You are right. You don’t have to be in church with fellow Christians on Sunday morning to worship. You can worship God anywhere – even while fishing on a pier – by the way, do you?” He didn’t answer. Actually, his lack of answer was an answer in itself.
So, what is worship? The word worship comes from the Saxon word worthscype, which later became worthship. To worship God is to ascribe proper worth to Him, to magnify His worthiness through praise, or better, to approach and address God as One who is worthy. As the Holy and Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, the Sovereign Judge to whom we must all give an account, He is worthy of all the worth and honor we can give Him.
In Revelation 4:11 those around the throne of God address Him as being “worthy” of many things. In Revelation 4:8 we are told that the four creatures around the throne worship God day and night without ceasing with “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Then in verse 11 the twenty-four elders around the throne of God in heaven are said to worship Him by casting their crowns at His feet, falling down before Him, and saying, “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.”
In the next chapter, thousands and thousands of angels, elders, and living creatures around the heavenly throne of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, cry out with a loud voice in worship, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise” (5:12). Immediately following comes worship from every created thing saying, “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” (5:13).
The more a person focuses on God, the more he or she will understand and appreciate how worthy God is. As we understand and appreciate worthiness, we cannot help but respond to Him. Just as sitting before an indescribable sunset or a breathtaking mountaintop vista evokes a spontaneous response, so we cannot encounter the worthiness of God without the response of genuine worship.
One might ask, “How does God reveal Himself to us that we might worship Him?” First of all, through creation, (see Romans 1:20). When I ran on the undefeated cross country team for Mercer University in 1950 I would often go out at night to a secluded spot on our cross country route for private worship that was far from the noise of traffic. There I would lift my eyes and look up at the billions of stars in the heavens, letting my soul soak up the beauty and majesty of God’s vast creation. You may have had or currently have such a treasured private place for personal worship.
Second, God flawlessly reveals Himself through His Holy Word, the Bible. Through the pages of the written Word we are led into the presence of the Living Word, Jesus Christ. If you know Him you already have in your heart the Holy Spirit, referred to in John 14:17 as “the Spirit of truth.” Without Him true worship will not and cannot happen.
The Paper Pulpit 
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