Last week, I wrote some thoughts about what I realized God was doing in the current crisis and suggested ways to respond. In this article, I look at one thing: the challenges of losing public worship. When we respond to the roaring lion, He must imitate the deer who sighs.
The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 42: 1-2: “As the deer sighs through the streams of the waters, so, O God, he sighs my soul. My soul thirsts for God, of the living God; When will I meet in Front of God What realities in the Psalmist’s life are behind this analogy?David was in exile, hiding saul in the wilderness and away from public worship.
- In his banishment.
- David experienced serious afflictions: he was sworn to death.
- Betrayed by those he helped.
- Slandered.
- And accused of being abandoned by God.
- In Psalm 42.
- He expresses his worst proof: he was deprived of public worship.
He expressed his soul’s desire for public worship through the analogy of a deer, surrounded by dogs, without water. In Psalm 63. 1, use a similar analogy: “O God, you are my strong God; I look for you impatiently; my soul thirsts for you; Does my body absorb you, like an arid, exhausted land, without water?
In exile, David was able to commune with Dieu. I prayed, I wrote poetry, I sang; however, he was deprived of the public assembly, where God met his people in a particular way. Much of what David possessed in public worship were just types and shadows. At what point should our sense of loss be sharper?As a church of the New Covenant, we worship in the full light of the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. .
Perhaps in the past, when you read Psalm 42, you thought David’s words were exaggerated; However, now that you are deprived of the privilege of public worship, you can better identify with David’s desire. Do you feel spiritually malnourished, do you feel, one way or another, disconnected from God and his people?Although we spread services, read, and pray with others in our homes, there is still a void in our lives.
Do you learn that collective worship is the greatest privilege and blessing of a Christian?James Bannerman described the transaction that occurs when we meet in God’s presence: “Public worship is nothing more than the way and how sinners, gathered in an ecclesiastical situation, are allowed in their collective capacity to maintain a relationship with God, maintain their fellowship with him in a correct and coherent manner, and approach him day after day in an acceptable communion?[1]
In his sermon, “Should public worship be preferred to private worship?” [2] David Clarkson presented twelve reasons that show that public worship is more important than private worship: 1. The Lord is more glorified by public worship than private worship; 2. There is more presence of the Lord in public worship than in private worship; 3. God manifests himself more clearly in public worship than in private worship; 4. There are more spiritual benefits to the use of public worship; 5. Public worship is more edifying than private worship; 6. Public worship is a better security against apostasy than private worship; 7. The Lord does his greatest works in public worship; 8. Public worship is the closest thing to heaven; 9. The most famous servants of God prefer public worship to private worship; 10. Public worship is the best way to obtain the greatest mercies, to prevent and eliminate the greatest judgments; 11. The precious blood of Christ is more interested in public worship; 12. God’s promises are given more in public worship than in private.
Bannerman detailed these blessings
All the elements of worship to which we have referred are part of a public, non-private ordinance, belong to the body of believers collectively and not individually. They should be appreciated as a means of grace, not by Christians separately, but by Christians in their ecclesiastical situation and in communion with each other [?] And even if the individual use of these ordinances is not impossible or illegal, but quite the opposite. it is not the case, used with the same grace effect, nor to have the same influence of grace, as in social and joint employment [?] In short, the blessing on ordinances is only a half-blessing when enjoyed alone, even in cases where the ordinance can be used by the Christian apart from others [?] All parts of the church worship belong to the church in a special and enfriendly sense, and are made effective by the presence of the ‘Spirit of Christ, as their instruments for building and strengthening the collective body of believers in a manner and to an unknown extent in the case of private and solitary worship. [3]
May we learn the privileges and blessings of collective worship, as David learned from experience. To help you evaluate your attitude and participation in public worship, consider the following four challenges.
First, let the deprivation of public worship work on you a greater esteem for it. Stop thinking you’re already doing this. I exclaim with the Psalmist, “I rejoiced when they said unto me, Let us go to the house of the Lord. (Psalm 122. 1). Or: “For one day in your atriums is worth a thousand; Would I rather be at the door of my God’s house than stay in the tents of evil?(Psalm 84. 10).
Second, do you need to repent of taking a careless approach to worship?Have you allowed people or things to prevent you from knowing God’s people, worshipping them?Did he worship only formally and not for the faith that springs from a regenerated heart?
Third, church officials should consider why they no longer have evening service. [4] Why do you deprive God’s people of a double blessing?In public worship, Christ remains with us and speaks (Psalm 22. 25; 40. 9-10; Revelation 2. 1). What a privilege to find ourselves in your presence and contemplate your beauty!
Fourth, those of you who voluntarily neglect [5] the second cult must repent of their worldlyity. What does this say about your spiritual health if your spiritual thirst is satisfied with a sip?Do you no longer desire Christ and his blessings? During the self-de-iaising of recent weeks, many films have been seen; others consumed replays of sporting events. How many of these same people, at best, reluctantly gave the Lord an hour on a working day?
God has taken away the privilege of collective worship for some time so that we can evaluate our attitude toward public worship. I pray that one of the benefits of the Covid-19 pandemic will be a renewed commitment to the glory of God and our good. in his worship.
In the absence of public worship, our souls yearn for the worship of the living God, as the desolate desolate deer sighs through the streams of the waters.
[1] James Bannerman. La Church of Christ, 2 volts. Reprint of the 1868 edition (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 1:341. [In Portuguese: James Bannerman. La Church of Christ. Vol. 1 and 2. Recife, PE: Os Puritanos, 2014].
[2] David Clarkson. The works of David Clarkson. 3 Volts. Reprint of the 1696 edition (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1988), 3:187ss.
[3] James Bannerman. Ibid. , 329-330
[4] There are many arguments in favor of the second cult. Just two biblical examples are enough: the morning and evening offerings were doubled on the Sabbath, and in Psalm 92, a psalm that leads our Saturday service, the writer exclaims, “Is it good to give thanks to the Lord? and sing praises in your name, O Most High, announce your mercy in the morning and your faithfulness at night? Furthermore, it is the practice of Protestant churches from the Reformation until recently.
[5] I acknowledge that some may not be present in the second service, by age, health or distance.