Why does God want worship? Doesn't that seem needy?
God does not want worship because He lacks anything. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and is not served by human hands as though He needed anything. Worship is not God feeding His ego; it is the Creator insisting we live in reality, and inviting us into the only relationship where giving Him glory is what fills us.
This question arose from studying What is worship, really?.
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Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
God flatly denies needing anything from us
In Psalm 50, God does not rebuke Israel for sacrificing; He rebukes them for imagining the sacrifices feed Him. 'I have no need for a bull from your stall, nor male goats from your pens,' He says, because 'the world is mine, and all that is in it.' The line is almost comic on purpose: 'If I were hungry, I would not tell you.' Worship can never be a supply line for a needy deity, because our God has no needs.
I have no need for a bull from your stall, nor male goats from your pens.I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
Paul said the same to the philosophers
Standing before the Areopagus in Athens, city full of shrines, Paul described the Maker of everything as one who 'doesn't dwell in temples made with hands' and 'neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything.' Then comes the reversal that changes everything about worship: 'seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things.' We do not give to God as though He were short; He gives to us, constantly, or we would stop existing.
The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things.God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
What He wants instead is thanksgiving and trust
So if God gets nothing He needs, what does He ask for? Psalm 50 answers: 'Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving,' and 'Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.' Notice what kind of honor this is: honor that flows from being rescued. God wants worship because He wants worshipers who depend on Him, which is simply another way of saying He wants us alive to reality.
Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High. Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Worship proclaims His worth to us and for the world
Peter says God made us 'a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.' Proclaiming excellence is what praise is: saying out loud how good someone is. When we worship, we are not topping God up; we are telling the truth about who He is, to our own forgetful hearts and to everyone listening.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
As you read, you may wonder…
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Can God actually hate a worship service?→“Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.”If God is a consuming fire, how can anyone approach Him?→“Yahweh’s anger was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.”Is it right to worship Jesus, or only God?→“I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!”And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”What are God's people supposed to do when they gather?→“They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”Why does the Bible command singing? And what if I don't feel like it?→“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”What is the Spirit's role when the church gathers?→“What is it then, brothers? When you come together, each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has another language, has an interpretation. Let all things be done to build each other up.How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”Is all of life worship, or only what happens on Sunday?→“Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”What will worship be like in the new creation?→“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”What is Paul saying about men and women in the church?→“But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things.God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
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