Apprentice 2 Jesus

“Worship is an inward feeling and outward action that reflects the worth of God.” (John Piper)

Piper points out three ways the heart can respond to God:

1. The heart can delight in the wealth of God’s glory, as at a feast (Ps. 63:5,6).
2. The heart can long for that delight to be deeper and more intense and more consistent, as the deer panting for the water (Ps. 42:1).
3. The heart can repent in sorrow when it feels neither the delight in God nor a longing for delight in God (Ps. 73:21,22).

If we have any of those three things moving in our hearts, worship is happening. If we do not even long for God, or know we are missing him, then worship is missing.

Our great barrier to worship is not that we are seeking the pleasure of God. The great barrier is that we settle for so little when it comes to going after God in worship. We are far too easily pleased, as C.S. Lewis would put it.