Page 87 - The Poetic Books - Student Text

turn exclusively to God himself as object. We must weigh seriously this insistent conclusion to the Psalter
or we are likely to go astray.

Music can be deceptive. I once heard of a Christian woman who spent time serving
God in South Africa. While visiting a health clinic, she was deeply moved by the sound of
the local Zulu women singing. Their harmonies were hauntingly beautiful. With tears in
her eyes, she asked a friend if she knew the translation of the words.
“Sure,” her friend replied. “If you boil the water, you won’t get dysentery.”
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Now if that doesn’t make you want to worship, what does?

This is not to set aside emotion in worship. The Hallel psalms have an
exuberance to them. “Grateful praise (147:7),” “extol the LORD (v. 12),”
“rejoice in their Maker (149:2),” and “sing for joy on
their beds (v. 5)” are expressions of powerful
emotion. The repetitions in the psalms speak the
same intensity: “sun and moon (148:3),” “wild
animals and all cattle (v. 10),” and “harp and lyre
(150:3).” The psalms are not interested in half-
hearted worship. They encourage overflowing joy. Figure 45: Coin with lyre
“We worship our Creator-God precisely because he
is worthy, delightfully so. What ought to make worship delightful to us is not, in
the first instance, its novelty or its aesthetic beauty, but its object: God
Figure 44: King David Harp himself is delightfully wonderful, and we learn to delight in him.” 146

As much as any of these themes, the Hallel psalms are evangelism. “Do not put your trust in princes, in
human beings, who cannot save (146:3).” They call to the kings of the earth (148:11) and warn of terrible
punishment to come for those who refuse (149:7). The Hallel psalms are testimony as God’s people give
their own joyful assessment of the value of God in one’s life. “I will praise the LORD all my life (146:2).”
“How pleasant and fitting to praise him (147:1)!” “His faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for
joy on their beds (149:5).” And, of course, there is the final exclamation point to the psalter, “Let
everything that has breath praise the LORD (150:6).” We call others to worship Yahweh with us.

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because
worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.
When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces
before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But
worship bides forever.
Worship therefore is the …goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in
missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory.
The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. “The Lord
reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad (Ps. 97:1). “Let the peoples

145 Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 97.
146 D. A. Carson, “Worship Under the Word,” D. A. Carson, ed., Worship by the Book, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
2002), 30-31.
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