Worship: Attitudes and Gratitudes – Part 2 – Tal Davis

How many of you remember where you were on Saturday, November 13, 1976? A lot of you are probably saying, “I wasn’t even born yet.” Well, I remember exactly where I was on that day and I’ll never forget it. My wife and I were living in Fort Worth,Texas, and it just so happened that Florida State’s football team was scheduled to play North Texas State University in Denton, Texas (about 30 miles north of Fort Worth) on that date. My father and mother drove from Tallahassee. So we all naturally went up to see the game. It was Bobby Bowden’s first season as Head Coach. So what was the big deal? Well, it just so happened that one of the worst November snow storms in North Texas history occurred that very morning. It took us two hours but we got there. And, yes, they played the game in the snow. The funny thing about it was that half the FSU players had never seen snow before! (FSU did win.)

So you ask, “What has that got to do with worship?” It just shows how people, me included, will go to all ends to attend sporting events no matter what the obstacles. The point is, don’t you wish people had that kind of dedication to worship? It seems most Christians, in America anyway, will look for any excuse to skip church.

In this three part series we are exploring the nature of worship and the proper attitudes that should be present when we do so. In the first installment (read it here: http://www.marketfaith.org/2025/03/worship-attitudes-and-gratitudes-part-1-tal-davis/ ) we discussed several of those mindsets that are characteristic of true worship. We looked at Isaiah’s vision of heaven in Isaiah chapter six as a model of the highest form of worship in heaven itself. In that chapter is recorded the prophet’s vision of the Lord’s heavenly throne room where he saw angels proclaiming the glory of God.

We explained how Isaiah felt inexpressible awe in the presence of the Lord. This led him to recognize the amazing holiness of God and to realize his own sinfulness and his need to confess it to the Lord. He then received the symbolic forgiveness of his sins which lead him to an attitude of gratitude for God’s grace.

In this installment we turn to the other three results of genuine worship. The first is a willingness to hear the word of God. Isaiah was witnessing the great worship in heaven and was standing before the throne of the Holy Lord. He had confessed his sinfulness and God had symbolically forgiven them (Isaiah 6:4-7). Only then was the prophet ready to hear what the Lord had to say to him: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord.” (Isaiah 6:8a).

It is only when we acknowledge our sins and appropriate His forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we can expect to receive God’s call in our lives. Even though we are fully saved by grace through faith in Jesus, and nothing can change that fact, unconfessed sin can hinder our relationship with God. Sin also prevents us from yielding as we should to the leading and power of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin and be more holy as is God’s desire for us.

We can then hear His voice more clearly to seek and discern His will for our lives. This produces the second result of genuine worship: submission to God’s call.

Isaiah heard God speak “saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” (Isaiah 6:8a NASB) His response was spontaneous, “Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:8b NASB) The obvious effect of the glorious worship experience Isaiah witnessed was to make him readily available to the Lord to be His messenger to proclaim His word. He was a willing servant for whatever God had for him to do.

May 26th is Memorial Day. It is a time when we remember the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country to keep us free. The first lesson soldiers learn in boot camp is absolute submission to authority. I remember a friend of mine joined the Marines back in the 1950s. He said as they were getting off the bus at the base, one of the new recruits asked the Drill Instructor Sergeant a question. He said that was the last time anyone in the platoon dared to do so.

Obviously God is not our Heavenly “Drill Instructor.” Nonetheless, we must willingly submit our will to His. Worship is one way we discover God’s will for our lives. In our praise, prayers, and study of His Word we can discern His plan for our lives.

However, submission is not the last result of our worship As soon as Isaiah expressed his willingness, God gave him his marching orders: “And He said, “Go, and tell this people:” (Isaiah 6:9a NASB) This was God’s commission to Isaiah as a prophet to speak His word to the people.

This is the ultimate goal of worship. And while we might say worship can be an end in itself, if it does not result in action beyond the confines of the worship center, then it is nothing more than self-indulgence. God always expects His people to reach out with the Good News to those who do not know Him to bring them into His kingdom. Jesus made this clear in His final statements to His disciples.

18 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 18-20 NASB)

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NASB)

So in these past two installments we have seen how worship is essential to the Christian life. In Part One we saw three attitudes that should characterize genuine worship as illustrated in Isaiah’s vision of heaven in Isaiah chapter six. They include awe in the presence of the holy God, recognition of our sinfulness before God, and humble gratitude for His grace and forgiveness given to us through the death and resurrection of Christ.

In this Part Two, we saw three results of what true worship should have in our lives, also exemplified by Isaiah’s vision of heaven. Those results include hearing the word of God, submission to God’s will for our lives, and carrying out the commission He has given to share the gospel to all people everywhere.

On the next installment, Part Three, we will further expand as we look at how we give our thanks to God in our worship experiences.

© 2025 Tal Davis