The Substance of Worship Text: Psalm 48:9-11
Introduction: What Are You Thinking About in Church?
The modern evangelical project is awash in a sea of sentimentality. We are encouraged to feel, to experience, to emote. The central question of our worship services has become, "How did it make you feel?" But the psalmist, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, sets a different standard. He is not primarily concerned with an internal, subjective emotional state, but rather with a cognitive, objective reality. He is not just feeling something; he is thinking about something. And what he is thinking about is the anchor of all true and robust worship.
This psalm is a celebration of the security of God's people in God's city. Earlier in the psalm, the kings of the earth gathered against Zion, took one look at her, and fled in terror. Why? Because God is in her citadels. God is her fortress. The security of the church does not depend on our political savvy, our cultural relevance, or the size of our budget. The security of the church depends entirely upon the presence of God within her. When God is for us, it doesn't matter who is against us. They see God's fortress and their knees knock.
But this external reality of God's protection must produce an internal reality in the hearts of His people. It is not enough to be safe; we must know we are safe, and why we are safe. And so the psalmist turns from the terror of God's enemies to the joyful contemplation of God's people. What are the saints doing inside the fortress while the godless kings are running for the hills? They are in the temple, thinking. And what they are thinking about is the very substance of our faith.
These three verses are a compact summary of what true worship is. It is a thoughtful meditation on God's character, which leads to a global declaration of His fame, which results in a deep gladness in His righteous rule. This is not the flimsy, self-centered emotionalism that passes for worship today. This is worship with backbone. This is worship with brains. This is worship that understands that right feeling flows from right thinking.
The Text
We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God,
In the midst of Your temple.
As is Your name, O God,
So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
Let Mount Zion be glad,
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments.
(Psalm 48:9-11 LSB)
Meditating on Mercy (v. 9)
The first order of business in worship is a focused contemplation of God's character.
"We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God, In the midst of Your temple." (Psalm 48:9)
The word for "lovingkindness" is that great covenantal word, hesed. This is not a generic niceness or a vague benevolence. This is God's loyal, steadfast, unending, covenant love. It is the love that says, "I will be your God, and you will be my people." It is the love that binds Him to His elect, despite their foolishness and rebellion. To think on God's hesed is to remember that our relationship with Him is not based on our performance, but on His promise.
And where does this thinking happen? "In the midst of Your temple." For the psalmist, this was the physical building in Jerusalem. It was the place where God had condescended to place His name, the place of sacrifice, the place where heaven and earth met. But we must read this with New Covenant eyes. The temple was a shadow, a type. The true temple is the body of Jesus Christ (John 2:21). And by extension, the temple is the Church, the assembly of God's people, where Christ is present by His Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16). So, when we gather together for corporate worship, we are "in the midst of the temple."
And what should we be doing there? We are to be thinking. We are to be meditating, pondering, considering. Worship is not a brain-dead activity. It is a deeply intellectual exercise. We are to think about God's covenant love. We think about the cross, where that hesed was displayed in blood and water. We think about our baptism, where that covenant promise was signed and sealed to us. We think about the Lord's Supper, where we taste and see that the Lord is good. Our worship must be filled with this kind of cognitive reflection on the objective work of God in history. If our worship is just about stirring up our feelings, we are practicing a form of idolatry, worshipping our own emotional state rather than the God who saves.
Name, Praise, and Righteous Power (v. 10)
This thoughtful meditation on God's character naturally overflows into a declaration of His greatness.
"As is Your name, O God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness." (Psalm 48:10 LSB)
In Scripture, a person's "name" is the summary of their character, their reputation, their very being. God's name is who He is. And the psalmist says there is a direct correlation between God's name and His praise. His praise is not something we invent; it is our response to who He has revealed Himself to be. Because His name is great, His praise must be great. Because His name is holy, His praise must be holy.
And notice the scope of this praise: "to the ends of the earth." This is a profoundly missional statement. The worship that happens "in the midst of the temple" is not meant to stay there. The contemplation of God's hesed is not a private, mystical experience. It is fuel for global proclamation. What we think about in here is what we talk about out there. The church is the engine room of world evangelization. A church that is not rightly thinking about God's lovingkindness will have nothing of substance to say to the nations.
And what is the basis of this global praise? "Your right hand is full of righteousness." The right hand in Scripture is the symbol of power, authority, and action. God's right hand is His active power in the world. And that power is not arbitrary or capricious; it is "full of righteousness." This means that everything God does is right. His power is always exercised in perfect justice and moral purity. He saves righteously. He judges righteously. He governs righteously. This is why His praise extends to the ends of the earth. He is not a tribal deity. He is the righteous King of all creation, and His authority is absolute.
The Joy of Judgment (v. 11)
This brings us to a conclusion that is utterly offensive to the modern, sentimental mind. The proper response to God's righteous rule is joy, even, and especially, when it involves judgment.
"Let Mount Zion be glad, Let the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of Your judgments." (Psalm 48:11 LSB)
Mount Zion is the church, the gathered people of God. The "daughters of Judah" are the smaller towns and villages, the individual congregations that make up the whole. And what is the cause of their gladness? God's judgments. The Hebrew word is mishpatim. It refers to God's decisions, His verdicts, His righteous rulings in the affairs of men.
We live in an age that wants a God of love without a God of judgment. We want a teddy bear in the sky, not a righteous King on the throne. But the saints of God rejoice in His judgments. Why? Because God's judgments are the expression of His righteousness. His judgments are what set the world right. When God judges, He is distinguishing between good and evil, between truth and lies, between the righteous and the wicked. He is putting things back in order.
To rejoice in God's judgments is to love what He loves and hate what He hates. It is to long for justice in a world filled with injustice. It is to know that every crooked path will be made straight, every lie will be exposed, and every evil deed will be called to account. The world thinks judgment is a bad thing. The believer knows that God's judgment is a very good thing, because it is the only hope for a world gone wrong. When God's enemies were scattered before Zion, it was an act of judgment. And the people inside the city were not wringing their hands; they were singing. They were glad. They rejoiced because God had shown Himself to be the righteous King.
Conclusion: Think, Praise, Rejoice
This, then, is the pattern for robust, biblical worship. It begins with the mind, not the emotions. We must think about who God is and what He has done, specifically His covenant faithfulness, His hesed, demonstrated supremely in Jesus Christ.
This right thinking about God's character, His name, will inevitably lead to right praise. A great God deserves great praise, and a global God deserves global praise. We cannot keep this good news to ourselves. His fame must be declared to the ends of the earth.
And this praise is rooted in the confidence that our God is a God of righteous action. His right hand is not idle. He is working all things according to the counsel of His will. This means He is actively judging in the world, sorting things out. And this is not a cause for fear, but for profound gladness. Let Zion be glad! Let the church rejoice! Our King is on the throne, His judgments are true and righteous, and He is making all things new.
So, the next time you gather with the saints, ask yourself the psalmist's question. What am I thinking about? Am I thinking about my problems, my feelings, my to-do list? Or am I thinking on His lovingkindness? Because when we get our thinking straight, our praising and our rejoicing will follow, as the night follows the day.