As I previously noted, authentic worship first begins with a true vision of the Living God.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
-Isaiah 6:3

• “Lord of hosts,” (or in other dynamic translations “Lord Almighty”) occurs 285 times in the Bible and is concentrated in prophetic books (251 times) especially in Jeremiah and Zechariah. The hyphenation has a double-edged meaning. As a military term it signifies that Yahweh is, so to speak, “Commander-in-chief” (1 Sam 17:45). The “hosts” or “armies” may be heavenly beings, part of the “heavenly government” (1 Kings 22:19), the astral bodies of sun, moon, and stars (Deut 4:19), or Israel’s armies (1 Sam 17:45). As a military title, it signifies that God is equal to any adversary and well able to achieve victory.
  
• After the trisagion of the seraphim, their second affirmation is just as powerful; it is an overflow out of their recognition of the holiness and power of God: “The whole earth is full of His glory.” The earth is the worldwide display case for His immeasurable glory, perfections, and attributes as seen in creation (Romans 1:20).  And as such, part of what it must mean to worship God is to come together, recognizing that wherever we have been, whatever we have seen, the whole earth is full of His glory!

  Often I have wondered if our vision of the God when we worship is remotely close to what the seraphs saw… does our worship testify to who God is and what He has done?  Is our worship even worthy of His character and power?  When people around us listen to the songs that we sing, do they see an accurate picture of our LORD–the one true God of the universe, the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?  Or have we painted an incomplete canvas, a picture that has been reduced to “God is love”, neglecting that He first and foremost is Holy, Holy, Holy, and of pure righteousness, a God of wrath, judgment, and justice?
  

• Verse 4: “The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.”  The shaking and smoke symbolize God’s holiness as it relates to His wrath and judgement. (Ex.19:16-20; Rev. 15:8)  From the outflow of God’s character of holiness and glory we find that the result is sheer destruction; we should be scared and fearful that we stand before the Lord Almighty.  Just the seraphs testimony of the essence and identiy of God results in the temple coming tumbling down.  Wow.  Hebrews 10:31 reveals, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” When was the last time you experienced something that can even be remotely suggested as terrifying during a time of worship?  In most situations, we are hardly frightened or scared.  But we see the church walls around us shake and the sanctuary filling with smoke–something that should cause not just to jump and shout in praise of God, but also get us to fall facedown in reverence (Lev. 9:24).

2) Authentic Worship Leads to a Confession of Sin

• Verse 5: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.”
  
• Authentic worship leads to a confession of sin, both individual and corporate.  If the lips are unclean, so is the heart. This vision of God’s holiness vividly reminded Isaiah of his own unworthiness which deserved judgment. His vision made him painfully aware of his sin and had broken him.

  He came to know the majestic, moral nature of this God, and he came to see God’s righteousness and holiness. In reflection, Isaiah automatically saw his own utter sinfulness. He could not otherwise understand himself but as a sinner who was, by his own words here, undone, dissolved—silenced. He saw himself doomed to die.
  In Isaiah’s own brokenness, little did he know that God was preparing him for his cleansing and his commission.

• If we do not come face to face with our sin as individuals and as a congregation, then we have not truly seen God, and consequently, we have not worshiped Him. How could it be otherwise than that meeting Him in worship we see ourselves as sinners? Isaiah spoke both individually and corporately. He said of himself, “I am a man of unclean lips.” His confession is tainted; his testimony is impure.  Isaiah saw himself to the core, and understanding himself perhaps for the very first time, saw himself as God saw him.
• True worship takes place among the people of God when we come face to face with our sins and confess them, knowing that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9-10; Psalm 51:1-4).

(cotinued in Part 5 “Authentic Worship Leads to a Display of Redemption”,
coming soon…)

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