When you show up at church on Sunday morning, what do you expect?
Do you expect to catch up with friends or to receive encouragement?
Or perhaps you show up because you like the satisfaction that it provides: it makes you feel like a good person.
Maybe you’re here and you really don’t want to be; you’re here simply because this is what your parents make you do.
Regardless of your motivation, I am convinced that you are not here by accident this morning. I believe you are here because God wants to speak to you through his word.
But what if I rephrased the question: when you show up at church, do you expect to encounter the living God?
This morning, our passage is 1 Kings 8. This passage gives us a God-centered vision for corporate worship. The temple dedication is a worship service—and a vision of God’s glory is at the heart of it all.
Let’s locate where we are in the biblical storyline: beginning of the reign of King Solomon.
Before David died, he urged Solomon to walk before the Lord with all his heart and soul (1 Kgs 2:1–4).
Solomon became king and famously asked the Lord for wisdom, which God granted, establishing him as one whose wisdom surpassed all the kings of the earth (1 Kgs 3-4).
Tragically, we know that Solomon didn’t remain wholly obedient to the Lord. Eventually, he turned from God and embraced the foolishness of sexual immorality and idolatry, which wrecked the kingdom (1 Kgs 11).
Several weeks ago, when Trace preached, we heard about how David had wanted to build the Lord a house, but instead, God promised that he would make David into a house, that is, he would establish David’s royal line forever (2 Sam 7:11–16).
The task for building a temple was left to David’s son, Solomon. 1 Kings 5–7 outline Solomon’s plans and construction of the temple.
Our passage this morning 1 Kings 8 is Solomon’s dedication of the temple. It’s a significant moment in the biblical storyline. The temple is the center of God’s dwelling on earth as it is filled with his glory. It’s a new Eden. It is the place where heaven and earth meet.
Ultimately, the temple points forward to Christ, the true temple. Jesus is the Word became flesh, who dwelled among us, and we have seen his glory. (John 1:14).
1 Kings 8 is a long chapter––66 verses. I timed myself reading it aloud and it took me 12 minutes, which would eat nearly half my allotted time, so I’m not going to read the passage in full. I will summarize and read certain sections.
Our passage gives us a God-centered vision for corporate worship.
The main point of my sermon this morning is this: Corporate worship is one of the primary ways God nourishes and strengthens his people.
Here’s how I’m going to structure our time this morning:
Six things we learn about corporate worship that should inform our worship today.
- Worship is corporate in nature (vv. 1–5).
The first thing to notice about this section is the importance of corporate worship in this text. Solomon “assembled” the elders of Israel together (vs. 1).
In vs. 5, the text emphasizes that Solomon “and all the congregation of Israel” assembled together.
There is an emphasis on the corporate gathering. The people of God gather to worship God.
This is why we gather week after week. As the writer of Hebrews says in 10:25 “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Christians gather, regularly, to stir one another up to love and good works (Heb 10:24).
No one follows Jesus alone. To be united to Christ is to be united to his people.
Christian worship, properly understood, is corporate in nature. This is certainly not to deny the importance of personal spiritual disciplines, personal quiet times, prayer, Bible reading, etc.
But it is to emphasize that being a Christian is not a private matter. It’s corporate. It’s public.
We must understand our worship as corporate, not merely individual. We gather in this room, not as isolated individuals, but we gather as a body.
This underscores the importance of church membership. In church membership we make mutual promises to one another; we belong to a church body with whom we will keep each other accountable and help each other grow to become more like Jesus.
Importantly, when we gather, we gather with a job to do. One of our heart attitudes is “participate in the ministry.” This means, when we gather, we don’t gather as passive consumers. We gather as participants in the ministry; we gather and engage.
Corporate worship, then, is not something that happens up here on the stage. Neither is corporate worship only the parts of our time where singing happens. No, the whole gathering is our worship.
A question for you to consider: Does your mindset on Sunday mornings more often reflect that of a passive consumer or an active participant?
I recognize that some of us will go through difficult seasons where showing up is all that you can do. If that’s you this morning, I want to commend you for being here.
At the same time, I think it’s important to recognize that that is not the steady state; the goal should be to show up and engage; to pour yourself out, to pray for others, to encourage others, to participate in the ministry.
Throughout the rest of the chapter, the text emphasizes the presence of God in the gathered assembly, which leads us to point 2, the second thing we learn about corporate worship.
- The glory of God must be at the center of our worship (vv. 1–11)
In vv. 1–11, the priests and Levites bring the ark of the covenant into the inner sanctuary, the holy of holies.
The ark of the covenant was the chest that contained the ten commandments given to Moses and the people of Israel. It symbolized God’s holiness, God’s covenant promises, and God’s presence. It was the place where God spoke to Moses.
And so, the Levites and priests carry the ark into the inner sanctuary of the temple. Then we read in vv.10–11: “And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.”
Worship, then, is centered on the glory of the LORD.
True worship begins with a proper understanding of the holiness of God, the majesty of God, the glory of God.
What is the glory of God? The glory of God is God’s intrinsic splendor and beauty which radiates from himself (Exod 33:18–19). Jesus himself is the radiance of the glory of God (Heb 1:2).
God’s glory is a blazing flame of holiness. Our God is a consuming fire (Deut 4:24; Heb 12:29).
What do we notice in the passage? God’s glory fills the temple with a cloud of smoke. Now why is there a cloud?
The cloud is there to act as a veil. The cloud veils the fullness of God’s glory, like the sun behind a cloud.
Why is a veil necessary? Because we are sinful people who would be utterly consumed in the presence of the holiness of God.
Sin is rebellion against God; choosing our own way; rejecting him as King. Therefore, God would be perfectly just in condemning us in our sin forever.
But God is holy and wants to dwell with his people. This is why he sent Jesus into the world to save us from our sin through his death and resurrection; dying on the cross as our substitute, paying the penalty for sin and extending forgiveness to us so that we could dwell with him in glory forever. If you haven’t trusted in Jesus as Lord, do so today. Repent of your sin and trust him.
How else is God’s glory instructive for our worship?
Biblically faithful corporate worship is centered on the glory of God in all things.
We should all count it a great blessing that we at River are a congregation that has not lost sight of this. By the grace of God, we have not lost sight of the gospel.
Now the word of warning to us is that the gospel can be lost. Churches drift. Pulpits that once faithfully proclaimed the gospel can stop preaching the gospel.
I was driving the other day and saw a church in town with a giant rainbow banner with a secular creed: “In this church we believe:” and then it listed a litany of political ideological talking points.
Here’s why I bring this up. What is at the center of that church’s worship? It’s not the glory of God; it’s political ideology. Tragically, no where on that sign is the name Jesus. Shouldn’t you expect that? In this church, we believe … in Jesus?
When I see that, it fills me with gratitude that I am a member of a church that has not lost the gospel.
What is your vision of worship? Worship does not exist to make you feel comfortable. Worship does not exist to accommodate itself to what you want to hear. Worship does not exist to make itself relevant to the culture. Worship does not exist to entertain you.
Worship exists for the glory and praise of our great God. We must keep the glory of God at the blazing center of our worship.
- Worship celebrates and remembers God’s faithfulness (vv. 15–26, 56)
Solomon gathers the assembly together and proclaims in verse 15: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father.”
Verse 20: Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised.”
Verses 24–26: “you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day.” […] “Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.”
Verse 56: “Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.”
God makes and keeps his promises. When God speaks with his mouth, his hands will accomplish what he promised.
God never overpromises and underdelivers. God always makes good on his promises.
Even in times of deep suffering, we can say “Not one word has failed of all his good promise.”
The Bible teaches that Jesus is the fulfillment of all God’s promises: “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Cor 1:20). God is faithful.
Corporate worship exists to remind us of these glorious truths.
There are two primary ways we remember and celebrate God’s faithfulness in corporate worship: preaching and singing.
This is why preaching is at the center of our time together. God’s word is at the heart of it all. We begin our gathered worship with a call to worship from God’s word. God calls to us through his word, and we are to respond in worship and praise.
The preaching of God’s word is always at the center of our worship. It’s why the pulpit is at the center of the room in an elevated position.
All of us are seated submitting ourselves not under the authority of any one man per se…but under the authority of God’s word. My job is to step out of the way so that you don’t see me, but you see Christ in God’s word.
We do this because we are convinced that the word of God is what we most need for the nourishment of our souls.
We are convinced that the living and abiding word of God is imperishable seed that causes us to be born again (1 Peter 2:23).
The faithful teaching and preaching of God’s word is the primary means of reminding us of God’s faithfulness.
The second primary way we do this in corporate worship is through song.
In 1 Kings 8, there is no mention of music, but there is in the parallel account of the temple dedication in 2 Chronicles 5:11–14.
There we find Levitical singers with cymbals, harps, lyres, and trumpets. I love vs 13: “it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD.”
And what is the song that they sing?
“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever” (2 Chron 5:13).
At that moment the glory of the LORD fills the temple. They sing of God’s faithfulness and steadfast love. God’s hesed; his covenant faithfulness.
This is especially instructive for us in the songs that we sing. Our primary concern with song selection is sound doctrine, then melody.
Do the words we sing accord with sound doctrine? We don’t sing songs because they “sound cool” or because we like the feeling or emotional response that they produce.
There is a lot of contemporary worship music that is primarily concerned with creating an emotional atmosphere/aesthetic.
Music importantly shapes our affections and helps us emotionally respond to the truths we hear preached. I’m not saying we should be like blocks of wood, rigid and immobile.
My point is that our goal is not to chase an emotional feeling. The music is supplemental in assisting the mind and heart’s meditation on the truth of God’s word.
John Calvin beautifully captures the proper role of music in corporate worship:
“And in truth we know by experience that singing has great force and vigor to move and inflame the hearts of men to invoke and praise God with a more vehement and ardent zeal. Care must always be taken that the song be neither light nor frivolous; but that it have weight and majesty (as St. Augustine says), and also, there is a great difference between music which one makes to entertain men at table and in their houses, and the Psalms which are sung in the Church in the presence of God and his angels.”[1]
Singing helps to inflame our hearts so that we might praise God with more fervent zeal and passion. But we don’t want to sing songs that are light and frivolous. Our goal is not to be entertained but to sing with the whole company of the saints and angels praising the glory of our great God.
Importantly, Paul commands us in Colossians 3:16 to teach and admonish one another by singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
There is a corporate aspect of our singing. We are to sing to one another. That is how we are to remind each other of God’s faithfulness.
We gather as the body of Christ. As I mentioned earlier, sometimes a brother or sister may be here, and they are so discouraged. It took everything in them to just show up. They need to hear your voice, singing to them, reminding them and encouraging them with the truths of God’s word.
Sing with verve! Sing with life! Sing boldly! Sing your heart out! Make a joyful noise! (Some of you may think people around you don’t want to hear your singing)… Guess what? This is not a performance. Sing because it’s pleasing to God and it encourages those around you.
- Worship is saturated with prayer (22–53)
Solomon prays a long time. Some of you may think my dad prays for a long time. No doubt, he does sometimes.
Solomon prays a variety of different kinds of prayers. He begins with a prayer of praise and blessing, simply praising God for his faithfulness (vv. 12–21).
The longest prayer is the prayer of dedication, which spans 31 verses (v-v. 22–53). What does he pray about?
- He acknowledges the uniqueness of God (vs. 23) “there is no God like you.”
- He again praises God for his faithfulness (vv. 24–26).
- He prays for the people of Israel (25 verses total beginning in vs 27).
- Series of seven petitions:
- prays for God to condemn the guilty and vindicate the righteous (vv. 31–32)
- prays for God to forgive sins (a repeated expression: “hear in heaven and forgive”) (vv. 33–40)
- Prays for non-Israelites to be brought in to the covenant community (more on this later) (vv. 41–42)
- Prays for victory in battle (vv. 44–45)
- Prays that the people of Israel would repent of their sin (vv. 46–53)
When he’s done praying, he prays some more! He gives a benediction—a closing prayer in vv. 54–61.
Prayer is an essential component of our corporate worship.
We often have a pastoral prayer or someone who leads a congregational prayer in our worship gathering.
Those prayers also serve as a teaching function. We are modeling and teaching how to pray
There is a prayer of praise of some attribute of God. Often, these prayers include a prayer of confession over sin and repentance. We include prayers for various ministries of our church. We pray for the spread and advancement of the gospel throughout our city, nation, and the world.
Importantly, prayer in our worship gathering is not “filling time” nor does it serve simply a “transitionary” function. In prayer, we are addressing and speaking to the living God who hears and responds to our prayers.
- God’s purpose in worship is to draw all the nations to himself (vv. 41–43, 60)
What is worship for?
Solomon tells us the purpose of worship in two places.
Verse 43: “in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you.”
Verse 60: “that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other.”
As John Piper says, “missions exists because worship doesn’t.”
Importantly, as Piper notes, missions is not the ultimate goal, worship is.
What he means is that missions is not an end in itself. The proper goal of missions is the glory of God.
Worship that is centered on God’s glory exists to draw all the nations in, so that all the nations would know and fear and worship the glory of God!
I love that River has historically been a church passionate about God’s glory in reaching the nations. This is why we partner with people like Donnovan and the IMB.
This is why we send out teams of college students through OneLink, and our youth later this summer to Thailand.
We want to see God magnified and worshiped by people of every tribe, tongue, and nation.
- True worship is expressed through wholehearted devotion to the Lord (vv. 57–61)
Solomon concludes his prayer that God would incline our hearts to him, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments” (vs. 57).
Verse 61: “Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”
What’s sobering about this is that Solomon doesn’t have a heart that remains wholly true to the Lord. There was something deficient in his worship, ultimately. He had a divided heart that led to a divided kingdom.
That’s why I say that true worship is expressed through wholehearted devotion to the Lord.
Jesus is seeking worshippers who worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24).
David was a man after God’s own heart. This means he had a repentant heart. He had a heart that turned to the Lord when convicted of sin.
In Psalm 51:17, David says “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
True God-centered worship fosters wholehearted devotion to God. How? In two ways.
The first way is that God-centered worship fosters repentant hearts.
True God-centered worship gives us a vision of the holiness and majesty of God. It gives us a proper understanding of our own sinfulness and the need of salvation from sin.
If you’re not a believer in Jesus and have not repented of your sin; decide today. Stop living for yourself; turn from your sin and trust in Jesus for your salvation.
The bigger your view of God, the better you recognize the seriousness of your sin. When you have a low view of God, you have a low view of sin.
A big view of God helps us see that our sin is a big deal. This ought to prompt us to turn from our sin and trust in Christ for salvation and forgiveness.
A heart that is fully devoted to God is not one of sinless perfection, but it’s a repentant heart.
The second way God-centered worship fosters wholehearted devotion is this: God-centered worship makes sin less appealing.
The more we see and savor the greatness and glory of God, the less attractive sin becomes.
A big view of God; loving and delighting in his word and his ways helps you to see the through the fleeting false promises of sin.
So how do you starve sin in your life? You starve sin by feasting on God. You starve sin by inflaming your heart with greater love for God.
Corporate worship is a God-ordained means of inflaming our hearts with love for God. Corporate worship focused on the glory of God inflames hearts that are captivated by the beauty of and splendor of God’s holiness.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
[1] John Calvin, Preface to the Genevan Psalter, 1543.