Is it right and good to worship our creator and redeemer?
It is our duty and privilege to bow in adoration, humility, and dedication in the presence of God.
Catechism for the Global Methodist Church, question 31
1It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing to your name, O Most High, 2to declare your kindness in the morning and your faithfulness in the nights,
1Come, let us sing to the LORD; let us shout to the rock of our salvation. 2Let us come before his face with thanksgiving; with songs let us shout to him. 3For the LORD is a great God, and a great king above all gods. 4In whose hand are the depths of the earth, and the peaks of the mountains belong to him. 5The sea belongs to him, and he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 6Come, let us bow down and bend the knee; let us bless before the LORD our maker. 7For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasturing and the flock of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,
1Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all my inward parts, bless his holy name. 2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits. 3He forgives all your iniquity; he heals all your diseases. 4He redeems your life from the pit; he crowns you with steadfast love and compassion. 5He satisfies you with good, and your youth is renewed like the eagle.
1Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his kindness endures forever.
9Therefore God also exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name. 10So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. 11And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
11Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.
9And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain and purchased for God with your blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." 10And you made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth. 11And I saw and heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and of the living creatures and of the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. 12Saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise." 13And every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them, I heard saying, "To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever." 14And the four living creatures said, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.
The catechism has just said that the church exists for the maintenance of worship. This question asks whether worship itself is right, and the answer is drawn from Article XIII of the Confession of Faith, on public worship: "divine worship is the duty and privilege of man who, in the presence of God, bows in adoration, humility and dedication." The catechism keeps every one of those words. The question names God as creator and redeemer, which is the twofold ground the scriptures give for worshiping him.
Duty and privilege belong together. The psalms treat worship as a command and as a delight in the same breath: "It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing to your name, O Most High" (Psalm 92:1), and "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his kindness endures forever" (Psalm 107:1). Psalm 95 supplies the posture the catechism describes: "Come, let us bow down and bend the knee; let us bless before the LORD our maker" (Psalm 95:6). The reason follows immediately: "he is our God, and we are the people of his pasturing and the flock of his hand" (Psalm 95:7). Creation is the first ground of worship. The elders in Revelation say so to God directly: "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things" (Revelation 4:11).
Redemption is the second ground. David blesses the Lord who "forgives all your iniquity" and "redeems your life from the pit" (Psalm 103:3-4). In Revelation the new song is sung to the Lamb because "you were slain and purchased for God with your blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9). Paul ties the worship of Jesus to the glory of the Father: "at the name of Jesus every knee should bend," and "every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11). Adoration and humility answer to God's worth and greatness; dedication answers to the fact that he has purchased his people.
Wesley taught that public worship is a means of grace, a place where God has promised to meet his people. Article XIII of the Confession of Faith adds that the form of worship may differ from place to place, provided it is in a language the people understand and consistent with Scripture. What may never change is the bowing: a Methodist comes to worship because the Lord who made him has also redeemed him.