And from the throne came a voice saying,
“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
small and great.”
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.”
(Revelation 19:5–6)
One of the great emphases of the Reformation in restoring biblical worship to the churches was the concept of dialogue in worship. Dr. Robert G. Rayburn emphasized this concept to the broader evangelical community in his book, O Come, Let Us Worship, and taught it faithfully to his students in his worship classes at Covenant Seminary.
The idea is that worship is not only God’s speaking to us nor is it only our speaking to God—it is a dialogue between God and his people. That pattern is seen in the encounters with God all throughout the Bible.
Revelation 19:5-10 gives us one example. In verse 5 the call to worship is given, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!” The response comes in verse 6, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!” The angelic messenger of God tells John to write down the words of God (v.9). Immediately John falls at his feet to worship but the angel forbids it and commands him instead to worship God (v.10).
We see that there is a call to worship (either explicit or implicit) and a response at the beginning. Then throughout the rest of passage, there is a dynamic interchange between God and the worshiper(s).
The Reformers thought that this pattern should be imitated in every worship service. In the Roman Catholic Church before the Reformation there was only observation of the priest with his back to the people. In the Anglican Church, it was the opposite. The services were read from the prayer book with little attention to preaching. Today we find the same phenomena in worship services. Some worship services are like performances in which the worshipers are merely spectators watching the preacher and musicians perform. Other churches can become so hypersensitized to the felt needs of the congregation that they neglect the message of God’s Word which answers questions and makes one aware of needs he would not have known on his own. It is important to keep the dialogue balanced for a living and biblical worship service.
We try to create a dialogue in our worship services at 2PC. It basically flows like this:
-
God calls us to worship / We respond with a hymn of praise;
-
We pray for God to be among us (invocation) / God comes and reveals our sin;
-
We confess our sins / God assures us of pardon;
-
We praise God for his pardoning grace (anthem or hymn) / God invites us to lift up our petitions / We offer our gifts to God in thanksgiving for attending to our needs;
-
We prepare ourselves to hear God’s Word (hymn of preparation) / God speaks to us from his Word / We respond to God’s Word (hymn of response).
There is much good news here. For one, we can meet with God in this way wherever we are. Even though we may be separated on Sunday morning, we are able to meet with God in this way through his Spirit. Furthermore, this means the worship service creates a place for you to spend time with God every week. We must not live in guilt if we are inconsistent about meeting with God in personal devotions throughout the week. If we have been inconsistent that week, we have all the more reason to participate in worship to meet him personally.
As you engage in worship this week, try to keep this perspective: "though I may be in a sanctuary with other people or at home on my couch, God is meeting with me personally in this worship service." Let that reality transform the way you view and engage in each part of the worship service.