The Gates of Righteousness

The spirit of worship

"Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: this gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation." (Psa.118:19‑21)

Upon many an occasion whilst the Temple at Jerusalem was standing those words were sung by the priests and worshippers at the great festivals. Israelitish worship was essentially a worship of praise, of song and of music, and this is but one of the many examples of the songs they sang and which have been preserved for us in the Book of Psalms. We do well to consider something of this aspect of the Psalms, for an understanding of Israelitish methods and outlook respecting Divine worship cannot fail to be of assistance to us in our own attempt to relate the outward forms and ceremonies of worship to the inwardly felt reverence and adoration of our hearts. We know that God seeketh the worship only of those that will worship Him in spirit and in truth, but it is also true that our very sincerity and fervour should lead us to worship God in a dignified manner and so far as possible in appropriate surroundings. Some consideration of the ways in which Israel of old waited on God with praise and prayer can help us to trace more clearly the effect of outward forms in promoting the spirit of true worship.

Since the Book of Psalms is really the record of Israel’s public worship and contains the songs, chants and prayers which were used in the Temple ceremonies this short study will not go outside the Psalms for its material. Within that Book there is contained a wealth of inspiration for sincerity and purity in worship.

One of the most characteristic praise‑prayers is found in Psalm 95. "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods," and so on. Notice that the worshippers have commenced their service on a note of praise; more than that, on a note of joyful praise. This is characteristic of Israel’s worship; their first impulse upon coming together was toward a lifting up of voices jointly in joy and gladness, and in gratitude of heart for all God’s mercies, a gratitude that was not only felt inwardly but expressed outwardly. "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psa.118:24) The very first element of their worship was a full, frank acknowledgment of Divine supremacy over all things and of their gratitude because of that supremacy. The valleys and hills, the seas and land, were made by Him and are His by right, and those who are His children have the privilege of using for their own pleasure and joy the things that He has made, and the obligation of bringing to Him for His pleasure and joy the offerings of praise and thanksgiving which such beneficence has inspired.

This leads quite naturally to the second element in worship, a quiet and reverent acknowledgment of that moral responsibility to be conformed to God’s laws and to live life in God’s way which lies upon everyone. One can almost sense the change in tone in verses 6 and 7 of Psalm 95. The major key of loud praise has dropped to a minor key of quiet reverence and awe. "O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For He is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand." It is now that the mind turns away from the outward things of the earth which God has created the appendages of life, of happiness, of enjoyment, for which praise has just been offered, and diverts its thoughts inward to the heart and soul. God did not only make the hills and valleys, the sea and land; He made us, and He made us His people, His flock. He is not only a Creator; He is also a Shepherd and a Father. The causes of worship, of reverence and of praise that lie within the human frame are greater by far than those that reside in the earth, which is itself but a minister to that same human frame, for God created the earth for man, and not man for the earth. Man is the glory and king of this material creation—or will be when the Divine purpose has been fully achieved. So, the joyful ebullient praise that is prompted by the material blessings surrounding man gives place to reverent adoration, a recognition of the spiritual blessings that find their place within a man’s heart. Therefore, in Psalm 96:8‑9 the exhortation is "Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth" and in Psalm 29:1‑2 "Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." In all of this there is the realisation that to worship God in holiness is a thing of beauty, that the yearning of the human heart for that which brings beauty into the life and drives out the drab and sordid can be met, and fully met, in joint worship before God.

Is not this worth considering in our fellowship and our worship? We have much that is drab and commonplace in our daily lives. The conditions attendant upon earning a living and managing a home in this present day are oftentimes dull and monotonous to an extreme, and even we who have the knowledge of Divine truth to cheer our way feel the pressure of the times. It cannot possibly be otherwise. The world feels the same thing and rushes madly from one form of amusement to another in the endeavour to forget. Man was made to be happy and to enjoy the good gifts of God, and now that human selfishness and sin has taken away much of the possibility of happiness humanity is in danger of breaking down. Now the fact that in general we do not desire and could not be content with the amusements which do temporarily satisfy the majority of people does not dispose of this fact that the drabness and ugliness of life has its effect upon us as on them. We too need something that will counteract these things and show us visions of beauty in which we can rejoice and find satisfaction and rest of heart. That counteracting force is to be found in worship—sincere, selfless worship offered in joint communion with others of like mind in an atmosphere of beauty and peace. Worship that ascends in chariots of praise to the highest heaven, that bears up the worshipper himself as it were on eagles’ wings and takes them in the spirit of their mind to the holy place where God is seated upon His Throne, guiding the destinies of the world that He has created.

We need then by all means possible to develop within our fellowship an increasing appreciation of the importance of worship and, too, of joint fellowship together in worship, of communal worship. That worship must be a joyful and happy worship—every gathering for worship a holy convocation unto the Lord where expressions of thankfulness and thanksgiving are predominant. Even although there must be other occasions where life is lived to the accompaniment of quieter and more subdued strains, where grief afflicts the heart and tears may not be far away, the time of worship will be a palliative to these things and call forth the happiness and joy that resides in the possession of the "deep things of God." (1 Cor.2:10) The Psalmist felt like this when he sang of his dark moments, of the contradiction of sinners against himself, of tears by day and by night, and yet "I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday." (Psa.42:4) He found the comfort his soul desired in going up with his brethren, with praise and song, to worship the Lord in His holy temple.

This brings us to the third very important element in our worship—the place where worship is offered. In natural reaction against the formalism and ceremony of the great churches there is a tendency to go to the other extreme and eschew all outward aids to beauty in worship. The Psalmist knew as well as do we that God may be worshipped in any place and does not require that the voice of praise ascend acceptably only from marble halls and prayers be offered to the accompaniment of swinging censers. David must have known better than any man how near God could be when alone on the mountain‑tops at night, or lying in the field with the flocks in the heat of a summer day. But the Psalmist knew what inspiration could be given his soul by the mere sight of the Temple buildings on the summit of Mount Moriah, the thrill of heart as the multitudes moved slowly up the wide stairways and assembled in the great court, the awe and reverence that filled the soul as the music of harps and chanting of singers fell upon the ear. That was why he could say with feeling "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem." (Psa.122:1‑2) The very suggestion of going up to worship the Lord in company with the brethren is one that should induce feelings of gladness and happiness.

After all, just as Jesus at twelve years of age was found in His Father’s courts, because that was the natural place in which to be found, so should we always feel as if the place of worship is our rightful spiritual home. It should possess a magnetism and an attraction for us that is possessed by no other place on earth. We should be conscious of an intense, a longing desire to be there and to commune with our brethren of like faith, and to join with them in praise and prayer, and share with them the consciousness of the overspreading Spirit, come down to bless and fill each worshipper with the grace and truth of the Most High God. The Psalmist felt like that. "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!" he cried, "My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." (Psa.84:1‑2) When he was away from the Temple he was an exile, a wanderer in strange lands. When he turned his steps towards the Temple he was coming home and as its familiar buildings came into sight he experienced the satisfaction of a spiritual hunger which could be met in no other way.

The word "amiable" in verse 1 really means "beloved." "How beloved are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!" The thought of the word is shown very vividly in its other occurrences. "The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him" (Deut.33:12); "So He giveth His beloved sleep" (Psa.127:2); "Now will I sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard." (Isa.5:1) Thus is our worship made complete, when we can look toward the place of our meeting with our brethren, and call it "beloved." Thus may we combine the three‑fold aspect of worship; our own personal coming to God in reverence and adoration; our joining with our brethren in united praise and prayer; our love and esteem for the place which is the place of our gathering, the place of our meeting, the place of our fellowship and worship. "This is the gate of the lord, into which the righteous shall enter." (Psa.118:20 RSV/KJV) How fitting are the words of the Psalmist in Psa.116:17‑19, expressive of this three‑fold cord. How the words come down to us in all their majesty and all their music, telling us of saints in olden time who trod this way before us, bidding us follow faithfully in the same way, that we, like them, may one day stand before God in Zion.

"I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. In the courts of the LORD’s house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem! Praise ye the Lord." (Psa.116:17‑19)

AOH