Leviticus 10:1-3 shows us God does care about how is worshipped; He has standard about what shouldn’t and should be done.  Here, Aaron’s sons offered a sacrifice of strange, unauthorized fire which God had not commanded; God in turn sent fire on them and punished them for their sin.

“Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God
–for who He is and what He has done–expressed in and by
the things we say and the way we live.”  (Louie Giglio)

For one of the most detailed requirements that God has for authentic worship, let us look at Isaiah 6:1-8:

Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord

6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

1) Authentic worship begins with a true vision of the Living God

• Isaiah tells us this vision took place in the year of King Uzziah’s death. We know a great deal about Uzziah. He began his reign with great promise and brought great economic and political prosperity to Israel in his early years. Later in Uzziah’s reign, however, Israel declined as foreign powers arose in influence around them.

  But it was not external forces that led to Uzziah’s demise. 2 Chronicles 26:16 reads, “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.”  It seems that Uzziah got into trouble precisely over the issue of worship.  In breaking the Lord’s command, Uzziah sought to do what he was forbidden to do, even after the Chief Priests reminded him that he was not to burn the incense on the altar. The Lord smote him with leprosy. Thus he was cut off from the house of the Lord, his people, and ultimately even his own throne; died.

  Isaiah recounts that it was in the year of King Uzziah’s death that he saw the Lord sitting on a throne lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. This theophany revealed God, and was the foundation of Isaiah’s call. It was the occasion of his worship here–he saw the Lord sitting on a throne.  What does it mean that God sat on a throne? Well, clearly it is a symbol of kingship and sovereignty. The throne indicates that the one who sits upon it is both king and judge. It represents both power and righteousness. And here Isaiah saw the living Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted with the train of his robe filling the temple. The train of his robe—literally his glory as in the kingly robes that had no end—filled and consumed the temple.
  

• But there is more to this high and exalted Lord who revealed himself to Isaiah. The one whose train filled the temple with His glory is not alone. Isaiah is not alone. There are beings here with him. SERAPHIM. Verse 2.

  Many picture comes to our minds as we think of these winged creatures, but we do not know exactly how they appeared. Martin Luther suggested that they were angels in a special form, special messenger beings, who had a form similar to humans. In the Christian Hierarchy of angels, seraphim represent the highest rank of angels. These seraphim (literally, “burning ones”)… might symbolize their role as a protector of the heavenly throne.

  The Seraphs each had 6wings, and which conveys a great deal of symbolism:
  -with two he covered his face: That must certainly indicate humility, for they dared not look at the holiness of God.
  -with two he covered his feet: surely this represents purity.
  -and with two he flew: but these winged creatures are not merely flying.
  

• Verse 3: “And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth.”

  The seraphim were able to speak in human speech. They were able to speak in moral and doxological/worship categories to Isaiah. Their message is what we know as the “trisagion,” Holy, Holy, Holy. Since in the Hebrew language there is no adequate comparative or superlative form, the pattern of repetition is used in order to make a point. Nowhere in Scripture is there a thrice-repeated pattern as we find here, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” until we get to Revelation 4:8-11.

  The primary thrust of the threefold repetition is to emphasize God’s separateness from and independence of His fallen creation, though it implies secondarily that God is 3 persons.  Within the trisagion–the thrice repeated pattern that is used as a repetitive emphasis–we see that God’s essence, identity, and being characterized by the attribute of holiness.

  What does the holiness of God mean? It means certainly His separateness from his creation. He is what we are not. We are finite; He is infinite. God is transcendent; we are dependent. He is Divinity; we are depravity.  God’s separateness certainly reveals the difference, the infinite contrast between His moral nature and ours, His majesty and power versus our weakness and inability.

(cotinued in Part 4, coming soon…)

[Authentic Worship: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.]