As we consider acceptable and authentic worship, we must also note that it’s possible to possess the right tenor yet have the wrong spirit. In one of the most important passages regarding authentic worship, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: “The Father is seeking such people to worship him. . . . Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23–24).

God is worthy of worship. It has always struck me that in Psalm 29, David calls on angels to join him in praise of God. He exclaims: “Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness” (Ps. 29:1–2). What glory is due His name? All glory. God is worthy of worship.

In fact, the word worship beautifully portrays God’s due. In the Greek, it pictures an individual as bowing down and kissing the hem of the garment belonging to the one before him. Such an act speaks of adoration, fear, love, dependence, and humility. In worship, the inferior recognizes the superior and ascribes to Him the glory due His name.

And God is passionate for the glory due His name. In Isaiah 48:9, 11, He says:

“For my name’s sake I defer my anger;

     for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,

     that I may not cut you off. . . .

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,

     for how should my name be profaned?

     My glory I will not give to another.”

The Holy Sovereign of the universe is jealous for His own glory. He is passionate about receiving worship.

The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” It answers, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” As theologians have pointed out, God’s chief end is no different. God’s chief end is to glorify Himself and to enjoy Himself forever. This is His eternal aim even as it is our created aim.

So why does David in Psalm 29 call on the angels to worship God with him? Because it is their job? Yes. But something more drives him. He calls for them to join him in praise because he knows that his voice alone is too meager. He rightly feels utterly inadequate to give sufficient praise to such a great God.

Worship humbles even as it delights the Christian. God is great, and that must be reflected in our worship. Thus, it is not just any worship that God desires. The writer to the Hebrews says, “Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (12:28–29, emphasis added).

If we were to define acceptable and authentic worship, surely reverence would lead the description. Yet so much of what the church calls worship today is anything but reverent.

A few years ago, I attended a service in which a pastor walked onto the church platform without any introduction, grabbed a microphone, and said into it, “Hey, Jesus.” This was supposed to be the casual opening prayer to begin worship. But we don’t say, “Hey, Jesus.” No one offering holy worship in Scripture ever approaches God with such an air. Encounters with God elicit reverence. In Exodus 3, Moses takes off his shoes; in Exodus 20, Israel is struck with awe; in Job 40, Job silences his lips; in Isaiah 6, Isaiah quakes; in Revelation 1, John falls down as though dead. Even the elders and angels, who are worshiping day in and day out before the throne, aren’t casual in worship. Appropriate and authentic worship is marked by reverence and awe.

Now, this doesn’t mean that our worship has to be stiff. The writer to the Hebrews says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16).

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