Tuesday 06 September 2022

Psalm 42

Background

In the first few verses of Revelation chapter 5, the Lamb (Jesus) takes the scroll from the one who is on the throne (God). It soon becomes clear that the Lamb is the only one who is worthy to do this.

Worship and worth are at the core of today's passage. Where there is incomparable worth there is immeasurable worship. The gathering of the worshippers is around the throne and their intention is to sing worship of the Lamb without ceasing. They sing adoringly of Jesus; they sing of his saving love for the world in his obedience to the Father. Jesus was crucified for us, and this is why we worship him.

It is is easy to be critical about different types of worship. We can start massaging our egos with sniffy remarks about ‘other worship that is not as good as the kind we are used to’. We might find some worship to be too traditional and liturgical, lacking imagination and effort. Alternatively, it might be too free-flowing and unstructured for our taste, clearly lacking preparation and intellectual rigour. Some things don't change – back in the day similar criticisms were made against ‘modern choruses’ – there was lots of sniffing and looking down noses. I remember a member of our youth group gently pointing out to one complainant that the choruses were mostly psalms that had been reworked. What was the problem?

The problem is that instead of focussing honour on Jesus in our worship, we are reluctant to admit that only he is worthy to take the scroll of Revelation 5. We are reluctant to accept that there is a necessary price that has already been paid for our sin and ultimate separation from God. The more we assert that we ‘aren’t that bad and God loves us, so what’s the problem?’, the more we remove ourselves from the myriad number – thousands of thousands – who are praising and honouring the Lamb.

To Ponder:

• Every creature (see verse 13) acknowledges and worships the work of the Lamb of God. Why is worship vital to the Church?
• What are your favourite songs of praise? Why do you love them?
• What does it mean for you that Jesus 'the Son of God’ is also the ‘Lamb of God’?