What is “True Worship”?
Isaiah 29: 1-14
Here we go with “Woe” again – our second time addressed to Jerusalem, “the city where David settled.” Jerusalem is also called “Ariel” and there is no real explanation for this so commentators have theorized that the word refers to “altar hearth” referring to the activity of cultic worship that was taking place.
This chapter also contains the intertwined themes of judgement and hope which Isaiah has been using throughout his book. Which means, if you remember any of your exemplary teachers in high school or college, that when the teacher repeated something over and over, perhaps that is the thing you should remember. So this is my challenge to you. When we complete the book of Isaiah, thirty months from now, should anyone ask you what this book is about, the first thing you should say is judgement and hope.
Now back to this chapter, in verses 1-4 the prophet proclaims judgement, and in verses 5-8 he presents hope, only to return to judgement again from verses 9-14. This conveys the reality that judgement and hope are just as intertwined in our lives. God has declared that judgement is not final, but hope is, however, the reality that hope is coming should not give the listener the attitude that judgement will be spared just because God declares hope will win out. In order for this to occur repentance needs to be part of the equation.
Isaiah addresses this exact problem in this chapter. Jerusalem’s main issue was that they felt they were immune to any judgement, because they were the “chosen people” of God. Isaiah sets the story straight. Their worship was worthless because it was not from the heart.
In verse 13, Isaiah comes right out and states that their worship was “made up only of rules taught by men.”
One could say that the Israelites had not stooped so low as to be worshipping idols, like the nations around them. But in essence, they were behaving the same way. They too were trying to manipulate God with cultic activity, rather than giving true worship. Somehow they had fallen into the habit of doing worship instead of being in worship. The action had become more important than their expression of their covenant love.
Look at what God plans to do to remedy the situation. In verse 2, Isaiah suggests that all of Jerusalem will become an altar hearth. This means the Lord is offering up the Israelites, themselves, onto the altar. God makes it very clear, either we accept God’s substitute, with our repentance and faith, or we become the sacrifice ourselves.
Have you noticed Isaiah has not mentioned Assyria at all in this chapter? Look at verse 3, it is not the enemy that is surrounding the city, it is God himself.
And why?
Isaiah continues and alludes to the worship of the dead and spiritism in verse 4. Although the people of Jerusalem and Judah prided themselves in pure worship, they were secretly engaging in many pagan practices. You can read about them in Ezekiel chapters 8 & 9. The results of their secret behavior will be like that of the mediums and spiritists, they will be mumbling and whispering as they lie in the “dust” beneath the tyrant’s boots. We read in verse 5, that God doesn’t stop with putting His wayward people in the dust. God makes Jerusalem’s enemies as “fine dust.” Isaiah reminds God’s people that any nation around them may seem mighty and terrifying, but when put up against the Lord Almighty, they are as thin and vaporous as a dream, verse 7.
Of course the nations think they are in control and have the ability to wipe out anyone they want, but we read in verse 8, they are but dreaming. Dreaming indeed, history has revealed that these thousands of years afterwards, the capitals of these mighty nations are gone, yet the city of Jerusalem remains.
As we continue to read in verse 8 and on, the tragic reality for the Judeans, as well as for the Assyrians, is that both are equally blind to what the Lord is doing. The people have blinded themselves, and God has chosen not to reveal what He is doing to those who could care less. By the time we get to verse 11 & 12, “this whole vision” is sealed up from God’s side and from the human side couldn’t be read even if it was opened.
God will not be played a fool. Jerusalem’s worship had become rote.
A performance for the sake of performing, because that was what they were “supposed to do,” rather than worship because that was what they desired to do, from the heart. They were going through the motions. When was the last time they had encountered God? When was the last time they felt a sense of wonder of the Almighty Creator? In verse 14, God lets them know they will soon experience wonder. The God they thought they had controlled would soon become their enemy. So much for Egypt. All the “wisdom of the wise” and the “intelligence of the intelligent” would vanish. God was in the house.
So what was really happening with the worship of the Judeans? What connection does it have with us today?
Unfortunately, what happened to the Judeans and their worship often happens today. The Hebrews had fallen into the pagan understanding that their human activities they performed would determine how the gods would respond.
You see, the pagans believed that there was a certain continuity between humanity, the divine and the natural world. Basically this meant that whatever takes place in one realm is duplicated in the other. With this mindset, the attitude of one’s heart was irrelevant, as long as the activity or ritual was performed, correctly. This meant more focus was placed on the performance rather than worship. For example, while performing the sacrifice of a lamb, when done correctly, meant that if the lamb and the person sacrificing it became continuous throughout the ritual, God would then think it was the person who died, not the lamb and the person would not be punished for their sins anymore. Today it may look more like this: Because I have given God such a large monetary gift, He will certainly bless me.
Yet when we read the Old Testament we discover that again and again, it speaks out against such a belief.
We read that God is transcendent, or according to Google dictionary,
“existing apart from and not subject to the limitations of the material universe.”
Which means,
He is not continuous with the world, but discontinuous. Which comes down to the reality that God does not have to change because of anything done on earth. God’s forgiveness comes through grace alone, because of the death of Jesus Christ. For the Old Testament believer this meant the lamb sacrifice was only a symbol of ones repentance and faith. Without the repentance and faith, the ritual was just that, a ritual. David understood this after his discussion with Nathan the prophet when he was forced to recognize his sin with Bathsheba, David wrote, Psalm 51: verses 16-17,
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
Unfortunately, today we follow the era of the health and wealth gospel, and we often take on a similar mindset as those in the Isaiah’s time. We have somehow come to believe that if we do certain things we will receive certain results. For example:
If I pray long and hard, God will heal my child. If I faithfully attend church than God will give me _____ You fill in the blank If I pray and read my Bible every day, than God will certainly lift my depression These are not acts of worship, they are acts of manipulation. It’s not like we really want God in our lives, what we really want is God to do good things for us, or make sure only good things happen to us.
So what is true worship?
True worship is the free expression of praise and thanks.
By God’s grace we are free from our sins that bind us
and given the freedom to live a life of holiness.
Let’s face it, God has already given us more than we deserve. I think He even wants to bless us more, but we get in the way, much like they did in Isaiah’s day, by trying to maintain control of our lives, which serves to block any blessings God may want to give.
Worship is not an action word, it is a state of being.
One can be performing all the right things, reading the Book, saying the right prayers, singing the hymns and raising their hands, but if their heart is not in the right place, than it is useless. Often times it is easier to perform than it is “to be.” And for all extensive purposes, no one else can tell if you are really worshiping or not because only God can see your heart. And in case you haven’t already figured it out, you don’t have to be in church to worship.
We can be in worship, anytime, anywhere. Paul, in the New Testament understood this quite well. He had spent the first part of his life doing the do’s, better than anyone else, but when he met Jesus, face to face, his worship changed from going to the synagogue to, coming from his heart. Paul saw who God was, through Jesus. Because of who God is, and because of what He’s done, Paul’s life became the living sacrifice.
That is my prayer for us today. Let us become living sacrifices and may our lives be in worship, always.
Let’s pray.
