I will praise thee with uprightness of heart,
When I shall have learned thy righteous judgments (Psa 119.7).
Our sinful hubris makes us think we “just know” how to worship God, and without grace inevitably we follow Cain’s wicked example of bringing unacceptable offerings to the Lord (Gen 4.3-5), whether we realize it or not. When preachers expose our spiritual ignorance and the Lord’s displeasure with our religious folly, our countenance also falls, except He change our hearts.
Most of the worthwhile things we do require some knowledge, skill, and practice before we become very good at them. No one sits behind the wheel of a car for the first time ready to drive on the highway. Real cooking (not TV dinners) cannot be done without culinary learning and training. Any kind of serious sport requires a serious commitment to discipline before excellence appears. So why do so many people fancy themselves expert in religion and worship, while they remain mostly ignorant of Scripture and grossly inconsistent as professing Christians?
Learning to worship God is a process the Bible calls discipleship. The biblical concept includes both intellectual and moral dimensions. Discipleship requires forsaking false beliefs, embracing doctrines revealed in Scripture, and ever-greater consistency in living according to the truth as it is in Jesus.
The knowledge of God lies at the foundation of all true religion. . . . The knowledge which I would recommend, though it includes the speculation of the understanding, is not confined to it. It consists in a clear discernment of God’s spiritual glory and in a holy intimacy with him; which can be obtained neither by a speculative knowledge without right affections, nor yet by warm affections without deep and extensive knowledge (Edward Griffin, “The Knowledge of God,” Sermon I in Life and Sermons).
Further, the end of discipleship is not merely theological knowledge for its own sake, nor even moral reformation as an ultimate goal. Rather, the whole school of Christ is intended to fill heaven with a host of holy worshipers to the glory of God. In other words, orthodoxy (sound doctrine) is for orthopraxy (sound living), and both are for doxology (praise to God).
From this it becomes apparent that as none of us are anywhere near a perfect understanding of God and His works and will, nor perfect obedience to His commands, we need much improvement in the worship we render to God. The psalmist realized this and confessed his desire of perfection as a servant in the Lord’s Temple.
Spiritual discipleship promotes acceptable worship.
THE STANDARD OF WORSHIP
God never gave any people permission to worship Him in any old way they pleased. As God’s very existence and nature are only known by divine revelation, so the substance and form of His worship must also be known, for if worship is for His glory and pleasure, how else could we know what pleases and glorifies Him?
This text calls that divine standard “thy righteous judgments,” another descriptive phrase for Scripture (also, “the law of the Lord,” v. 1; “His testimonies,” v. 2; “His ways,” v. 3; “Thy precepts,” v. 4; “Thy statues,” v. 5; and “Thy commandments,” v. 6).
The first words of God’s covenant with His ancient people Israel, after a prologue rehearsing His grace in redeeming them from Egypt, were four great commandments about the regulation of His worship (Exod 20.1-11). We might say that the entire test of Israel’s loyalty to the Lord was whether they would worship Him according to His rule or in some other way, either according to their own natural wishes (Num 15.39-41) or in imitation of their pagan neighbors (Deut 4.1-6; 12.30). Where the biblical standard is forsaken, so also is true worship.
THE PURSUIT OF WORSHIP
The psalmist again confesses his shortcomings in holiness: “when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.” The Hebrew literally rendered is, “in my learning.” Thus he is saying, “I will praise thee with uprightness of heart . . .
in the practice or act of learning them. His own experience of their nature, influence, and value would lead him to sincere praise. He had no doubt of finding that they were worthy of his praises, and of seeing in them more and more occasion to glorify and honor God. The more we know of God, the more shall we see in Him to praise. The larger our acquaintance and experience, the more our hearts will be disposed to magnify His name (Barnes, in loc.).
The greatest priority of our lives ought to be excelling in worship, and this will increasingly come to pass with our learning God’s Word, not only intellectually but practically, as our walk with Him becomes increasingly intimate and our conduct before Him becomes increasingly conformed to His revealed will.
THE MANNER OF WORSHIP
The phrase “with uprightness of heart” is an essential element of worship that God accepts.
This makes it obvious why no unconverted person has even begun to worship God acceptably to Him. The sinner’s heart is hostile to God and to His commandments, and cannot be subject to them (Rom 8.7). Even so, the Lord expresses His loathing of their sacrifices and prayers (Prov 15.8; 28.9). Only when God regenerates a sinner, granting repentance from sin and true faith in His Word and Son, is true worship possible, and to some degree, inevitable.
There is such a thing as false and feigned praise, and this the Lord abhors; but there is no music like that which comes from a pure soul which stands in its integrity. Heart praise is required, uprightness in that heart, and teaching to make the heart upright. An upright heart is sure to bless the Lord, for grateful adoration is a part of its uprightness; no man can be right unless he is upright towards God, and this involves the rendering to Him the praise which is His due (Spurgeon, in loc.).
The END OF WORSHIP
“I will praise thee.” This activity is a worthwhile end in itself. For a man to praise God—according to the standard of His Word, with ever-increasing excellence, from the sincerity that only comes through the soul-washing accomplished by the blood of Christ—this is the end for which God created His elect in the first place. “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever,” as the catechism aptly says. Worship as God intended is not self-congratulation or primarily for our good but centered upon Him!
This, then, is the greatest and highest motive for following our Lord Jesus Christ, and growing in His grace and knowledge. Our increasing in the knowledge of God and His Word is the noblest pursuit because it fits us to take our place in the glorified company of saints before His throne, where all the worship is perfectly acceptable to God.
All Rights Reserved.