The Heart of Worship

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Opening Prayer

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I am in Your presence. I offer You my sacrifice of thanks and praise.

Read 2 Chronicles 5:1-14

^[1] When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated-the silver and gold and all the furnishings-and he placed them in the treasuries of God’s temple. ^[2] Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. ^[3] And all the Israelites came together to the king at the time of the festival in the seventh month. ^[4] When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark, ^[5] and they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The Levitical priests carried them up; ^[6] and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted. ^[7] The priests then brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. ^[8] The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles. ^[9] These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. ^[10] There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. ^[11] The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. ^[12] All the Levites who were musicians-Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives-stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. ^[13] The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the LORD was filled with the cloud, ^[14] and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.

Meditate

“The height of devotion is reached when reverence and contemplation produce passionate worship, which in turn, breaks forth in thanksgiving” (R. Kent Hughes). That happened in Jerusalem (13), and it can happen today!

Think Further

We are left in no doubt that the dedication of the new Temple involved a massive and memorable celebration. Qualified musicians playing cymbals, harps and lyres are joined by no less than 120 trumpeters and a choir praising God in unison. At the climax of this act of worship the glory of God filled the Temple, overwhelming those present with awe and wonder. Clearly, this was a momentous day in the history of biblical Israel and no one present would ever forget the experience.

At the heart of the chronicler’s account, however, there is a contrast between the external glory of this event and the essential nature of the biblical faith. In the inner sanctuary of Solomon’s magnificent and expensive Temple was the Ark of the Covenant, which contained only the two tablets Moses had placed in it at Horeb (10). This simple chest served as a reminder of the origins of the Hebrew faith, and the two stone slabs, inscribed by the finger of God himself with the terms of his covenant with Israel, highlighted the uniqueness of this tradition. The statement that there was nothing else to be seen surely implies a contrast with other temples in the ancient world which contained images of the deities being worshipped. Perhaps there is also tension between Israel’s core beliefs and the elaborate nature of Solomon’s Temple with its spectacular worship. Does the chronicler imply that what matters most to God might easily be given mere lip service, overlaid and eventually ignored by an establishment increasingly tempted to go the way of the world? Magnificent music, spine-tingling singing and inspiring architecture may all have their place, but they must never obscure the non-negotiable core of the biblical faith.

Apply

Reflect for a moment on your experience of public worship. Can you identify ways in which the focal point of biblical worship may become lost?

Closing prayer

Loving Father, I pray for my church, that Your glory may be in the midst when we worship You. I pray for myself, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, that Your glory may fill me.

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