Why do we Worship God?

Back in the Old Testament times people sang the praises of God to say thank you for all that God had done for them. Not all that long after the Children of Israel had crossed the Red Sea with the Egyptian Army drowning as they tried to bring them back to Pharaoh, the Israelites began to complain bitterly. Once they had broken free of slavery and started to follow wherever God led they began to get very comfortable. So, when things didn't go right, they started to whinge and moan about it all. You see, when people receive gifts they start to expect more and more. When I worked in a small company who, with help from European funding, used to provide free business advice and assistance, the boss talked about them adopting a dependence on grants. He called it the grant mentality. He was right about this. There were many small companies who began to expect more and more free help because of our intervention.

This was how the Israelites were. So when things went wrong they decided God was useless and asked for an idol to worship. Just because Moses seemed to be away too long they began to think God was not the one to thank for all their good fortune. By now they had decided they needed a local god or idol to whom they could pray. Moses came back from his time up the mountain with God to find them worshipping a Golden Calf. He was so enraged that he smashed the two tablets of stone on which were engraved the Ten Commandments.

So from this point he had to remind them how good to them God had been. If you read the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy you find it is a long sermon by Moses, telling the people to remember the goodness of God in rescuing them from Egypt. It goes on a long time, telling them how much they ought to worship God for his kindness to them.

Later in the Old Testament we find the Book of Psalms which is really a collection of beautiful hymns sung to praise God for his protection and love. This is another type of worship. Later on the prophets exhorted the people to turn from their idolatrous ways to worship the one and only Yahweh (their word for God). The prophets warned them of dire consequences if they did not heed this warning. The people had to worship God, not only in the synagogue, but throughout their lives. Living out their lives according to God's law would be seen, the prophets told the people, as worship and thanks for all God had done for them.

In those days they believed that if a man was rich then God had blessed him and it meant he was a good religious person. So when Job was seen to have wall to wall wealth in terms of family and flocks he was considered to be a leading worshipper of God. So he was tested by the removal of all his riches to the point where people couldn't stand being near him so badly did he smell.

Even in New Testament days the people believed that a rich man was the best man. The disciples were "gobsmacked" when Jesus required the rich young man to give away all his wealth in order to have eternal life. Even they had to learn this lesson. They understood that God was great and good but thought he showed his love by giving people great wealth.

Going back to the point where Mary was told that she was to become the mother of the saviour of the world we hear her song of worship to God for his goodness to her. That song is referred to as the Magnificat. It praises God for being so good to young Mary, and it contains a warning of the new rules which would apply once he arrived in the guise of Jesus, Son of God.

The song starts by saying: "My soul tells out the greatness of the Lord....." Later we read this: "he has routed the proud and all their schemes.....he has brought down monarchs from their thrones.....he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty." From now on the rules will change. No longer will the wealthy be the best but the poor man who begs at the side of the road. No longer will kings be the best but their subjects will reign in their place.

This amazing message was enhanced by all that Jesus did and said as he went about Palestine with his disciples teaching the people. Now the news was that the poor counted equal to the rich. It said that you were in no better position as a rich man than the beggar on the road. It said that God loved all people equally. Now, here were grounds for worshipping God. Even if you were struck down in abject poverty you stood equal with everyone else. God loved you just because you were there! This was news indeed. It was also grounds for constant worship of God to give thanks for all one had.

That position has continued to this day. Oddly enough, there are still occasional people who think that successful business people have been favoured by God. But they are simply wrong. All of us count equally in God's sight. He is proud of us because he has made us. Recognising that everything we have we owe to God, we need to worship him to give thanks. He is our father and like all fathers he is proud of his children and gives us much in order that we might prosper. It can be best described as being Christmas every day! That is why we worship God.