Rightly Worshiping God (From Archives)

One of my favorite excerpts from John Calvin's Commentaries on the Prophet Jeremiah and the Lamentations (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981), is his commentary on Jeremiah 7:31:

"Which I commanded them not, and which never came to my mind". This reason ought to be carefully noticed, for God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, “I have not commanded them,” whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions, than that they are not commanded by God: for when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to his commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship, in which they absurdly exercise themselves, would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet’s words then are very important, when he says, that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind; as though he had said, that men assume too much wisdom, when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew”.

This quote is characteristic of one of Calvin's reform ideas that would come to be called the regulative principle of worship. Now, maybe as a caveat, and stealing some wording from Calvin, I would like to establish that 'we cannot rightly' form our theology and our approach to Christian worship 'except by obeying God's Word' (the Bible) and adhering to the truths therein. In other words, and relating to my quoting of Calvin, we cannot do something just because a pillar of the Reformation said so and it "sounds good to me".
With that out of the way, we are forced, by good conscience, to see the truth in what Calvin has discerned from the Word of God. Devising our own implements to approaching and carrying out worship of God is not something we have been given the autonomy to do - "I commanded them not". And, further to that, we cannot assume that we have the liberty to form components of our worship on the basis that they were not specifically commanded against in God's Word. We can read throughout the Old Testament, whether in pagan circles or by Israel that God has punished and disciplined those who have departed from his commanded form of worship. Whenever those who, albeit with some form of sincerity, have chosen to devise from their own minds methods of worshiping God, God has in many different ways said it "never came to my mind" ("...into my heart" [KJV]).

Is it right to worship God in ways by which he has not specifically commanded against? Or, because God has not specifically condemned certain aspects and implements of worship that man has devised, can we assume that these methods of worship have His blessing? I believe the answer to both of these questions is a strong no. The only way by which we can worship God is by obeying His inerrant, fully sufficient Word. In Matthew 15:9 Jesus states the following: "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Clearly we are not to invent our own modes of worship - however sincere the intention and however appropriate we may think the implements to be. In 1 Samuel 15:22-23 we can read that "to obey is better than sacrifice...For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." It is better that we obey God because, in our relatively stupid minds, we humans are accustomed to creating new and original ways of expressing our adoration - and in that, because we create them, we commit ourselves to God's judgement.

When it comes to rightly worshiping God, if we would only retire our imaginations and rid ourselves of our carnal inclinations that tell us it is legitimate to create our own forms of worship, how much more wonderful would our relationship be with our Creator. John Calvin adds this to the subject of the right worship of God "...he wholly calls us back, and withdraws us from petty carnal observances, which our stupid minds, crassly conceiving of God, are wont to devise".

Stick to God's Word and pray that He would strengthen you in the Truth!