The worship of Almighty God is the most solemn act the mind of man is capable of being engaged in. It is an intercourse between Him and us, in which the soul, divested of outward things, pours forth all its wants into the bosom of an Almighty Friend, and by the influence of the vital beams of his light and love receives ability to answer his will either in vocal or silent returns of its grateful acknowledgments and praise. This devotion requires a considerable degree of abstraction from the world; that we hear little of it is not wonderful. Superstition has placed it in opinions, ceremonies, austerities, pilgrimages, an august temple, or splendid imagery, which have little connexion with sentiment or spirit. Enthusiasm has obtruded a spurious offspring on the world, instead of this legitimate child of truth, whilst the lukewarm have rested in a few outward duties, which have had no vigor, and as they spring not from the heart, never enter the temple of the Most High. Real piety is of a very different, and of a much more animated nature; it looks up to God; sees, hears, feels him in every event, in every vicissitude, in all places, and upon all occasions. It is theory verified by experience, it is faith substantiated by mental enjoyment, it is heaven transplanted into the human bosom, it is the radiance of the divinity warming and encircling man. It is a spiritual sense gratified by spiritual sensations; without this all ceremonies are inefficacious; books, prayers, sacraments, and meditations, are a body without a soul. That man is capable of such an intercourse with his Maker, there are many living witnesses to prove. When minds are in an assimilating state of purity, they have this union with their Maker. This was the bliss of paradise: sin interrupted, and holiness only can restore it; to a soul thus prepared the Creator communicates himself, in a manner, which is as insensible to the natural eye, as the falling of dews, but not less refreshing to its secret powers, than that is to vegetation.
This worship being produced by the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit which it is not in the power of man to command, he must reverently wait for it, as well in his more private approaches to the Sacred Presence, as in the public assemblies for the worship of the true God. Nor can the duties of preaching the gospel, or of vocal prayer or praise be rightly performed but by the same quickening virtue immediately exciting thereto. Every thinking person, who is in any degree sensible of the love and fear of God, must esteem it an awful thing to present himself to the especial notice of the Infinite, Omnipresent, Eternal Bring; and in consideration of his high and inconceivable majesty, it is our duty to approach Him with the greatest reverence. Hence the propriety of the exhortation “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, (or enterest upon worship,) and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools; for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God; for God is in heaven and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few.” That public worship is an incumbent duty, is manifest from the practice and exhortations of Christ and his apostles; and its benefits are evinced not only by the experience of those who observe it, but by the dissipation and licentiousness which prevail where its obligation is wholly disregarded.
Christ has instructed his disciples to believe, that “where two or three are gathered together in his name, there he is in the midst of them.” As no formal acts without his spirit can constitute divine worship, we must wait for this needful qualification. If the worship of God depended upon the organic powers of our nature, and could not be performed without them, then it must be in part a carnal, and not a purely spiritual worship. No forms of devotion invented by men can supply the place of the Spirit. The apostle says, “the Spirit helpeth our infirmities;” “through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father.” It is not doubted that the Spirit of Christ may authorize and accompany vocal acts of worship; but where an assembly without waiting for the mind of the Spirit, immediately proceeds to formal acts, there is danger of departing from the will of God and fulfilling the will of man alone. Seeing then, that both our help and access are through the Spirit of Christ, the renewal of which is at his pleasure and not ours, we must necessarily wait for it. This waiting must be in stillness of mind, free from all wandering imaginations, and from the expression of words; for the utterance of words is not waiting, but acting. Words are necessary to convey the sense of one person to another, but not to that omniscient Being who is an universal Spirit, and everywhere Almighty, who, therefore, stands not in need of the use of corporeal organs, instruments, or the sound of words to communicate with the spirit of man. As worship consists not in words, neither does it in mere silence, but in an holy dependence of the mind upon God. If an assembly be gathered into outward stillness, and do not attain this necessary abstraction of mind, pure and spiritual worship may not be performed. It is therefore the business of all those assembled, reverently to wait upon God, in order to feel his presence, and to be gathered into his name, where He is in the midst. As every one becomes thus gathered, the secret power and virtue of divine life is known to refresh the soul. And if there be not a word spoken, yet true spiritual worship is performed, and the body of Christ edified.
This silent waiting is so contrary to the wisdom of man, that it is not understood or practised but by those who become subject to the Divine will; who are convinced that words, even the words of Scripture, and all outward ceremony are altogether insufficient to satisfy their weary, afflicted souls; for where all these are used, the divine life and power may be wanting. Feeling the emptiness of mere external performances, and becoming silently attentive to the manifestation of the spirit in the heart, the most excellent teacher, such are taught to cease from their own works, and simply to depend upon God, that as He influences by his grace, they may be qualified, mentally or vocally, to worship before him. If, in order to worship, the mind do not settle into stillness, the passions will be at work, and may agitate into enthusiastic heats and vague imaginations. But in true stillness and singleness of soul towards God, they are silenced and subjected. The still small voice of the inspirer of all good then comes to be heard, and the mind being closely engaged in attention thereto, and answering it in faith and humble submission, feels divine life and love spring up, and receives ability therein truly to worship the great Author of its existence, with a devotion which no forms can reach. This worship is not entered upon by totally laying aside our faculties and falling into a senseless stupor, as some may imagine, but by a real introversion of mind, an attention fixed singly upon the alone object of all adoration, in patient, yet fervent desire after him. And without the intervention of words, the spiritual strength of those thus exercised, is often renewed, and their souls nourished by the holy fellowship and communion of the body and blood of Christ. Monro, in his “Just measures for the pious institution of Youth,” speaking of devotion, says-“When the devout soul is disengaged from all created things, from sin and self, and corruption, and firmly believing that God who filleth all things, is present in the soul, and ready to display his power, and communicate his light and graces, doth by an act of faith, state himself in his presence, and there having turned the eye of the soul to the interior, and made an entire surrender of himself into the hands of God, with an humble desire, that he would dispose of him as he pleases, and that his holy will may be done in him; he continues in a profound silence and recollection, waiting for the divine good pleasure. The blessed God, as the experience of many eminently devout persons doth abundantly testify, visits these souls that depend on him, with his peculiar favours, displays in them the riches of his power and grace, and makes them feel, in an ineffable manner, the reality of his presence in their inward man; whence it comes to pass, that they improve wonderfully in every thing that is good, just, and true, pure and lovely, and advance with speed towards Christian perfection.”
Silent waiting was practised among the prophets and those who associated with them, as appears in the prophecy of Ezekiel. The spirit of the prophet was engaged in divine vision whilst the elders of Judah sat before him, as it is described from the first verse of the eighth to the twenty-fourth of the eleventh chapter. During the time of this vision it cannot be consistently supposed, that he was either speaking to them, or they to him, or to each other. This was not a singular instance of their meeting together, for it was the manner of God’s people to congregate with the prophets, as this close reprehension plainly indicates: “They come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them.” The prophet Jeremiah says, “The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” Its advantages are further shown by David and Isaiah: “I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” “And it shall be said in that day, lo, this is our God, we have waited for him and he will save us. This is the Lord, we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Now, how can we practise this incumbent duty of waiting upon God, and watching before him, but in silence? It is a duty frequently enjoined in the scriptures, and must necessarily precede the qualification for the performance of all others in the worship of God.
When the time appointed to end the ceremonial worship of the law had come, Jesus Christ, in restoring the true spiritual worship, prescribed no set form to his children under the more pure administration of the new covenant. In the memorable interview with the woman at Jacob’s well, he declared, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, (exclusively) worship the Father. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth.” It is no longer then a worship limited to any particular place and consisting of outward observations which man can perform when he pleases: but spiritual, and adapted to the nature of the great object of all adoration and praise. We are exhorted diligently to assemble for the purpose of Divine worship, but the duties of preaching, prayer, and singing, and the order in which they are to be performed, are to be subject to the revelation and direction of the spirit. The apostles “spake as the spirit gave utterance.” They “knew not what to pray for as they ought, but the spirit helped their infirmities and made intercession for them with groanings which could not be uttered.” “They prayed with the spirit, they sang with the spirit and with the understanding also.” And can it be rationally supposed that we are possessed of powers which render us more independent than they were of the necessary aid of the Holy Spirit? As man is excluded from acting in spiritual things in his own will, he must wait for a knowledge of his duty, and the requisite ability to perform it.
It is the principal work of a Christian to know his will brought into subjection to the divine will, for this resignation and self-denial the Lord chiefly regards. Curious speculations on religious subjects may amuse the mind, but being the fruit of man’s degenerate will, they cannot contribute to the work of sanctification and redemption. Some many endeavor to terrify themselves from sin, by thoughts of death and eternal judgment: or presenting to their imaginations the joys of heaven, may think to merit them by a repetition of prayers and other religious performances; yet these exercises, without the inward power of God’s grace, can never deliver the soul from one iniquity, but are rejected by Him, as not being the product of that divine seed of righteousness given for salvation, the fruit of which only, whether a sign or a groan, is accepted of God. When the soul is brought into this state of silence and nothingness, the enemy of man’s happiness is excluded; for he that of old is said to have come to the assemblies of the children of God, may yet deceive the soul by his transformations, and through the imagination, influence it to acts of supposed duty, unless it maintain this state of humble watchfulness before the Author of all its sure mercies. Man being thus reduced into entire dependence upon God, the little seed of righteousness planted in the soul, which Christ has purchased for his salvation, and which is oppressed by his creaturely thoughts and imaginations, receives a place to arise, and by waiting therein, he comes to be accepted in the sight of God, to stand in his presence, hear his voice, and to observe the motions of his spirit; and if whilst in this dependent situation there are any objects presented to the mind concerning God, or relating to his religious duty, he may be exercised in them to his own benefit and that of others. But if it please God when any are thus waiting upon him, simply to keep them in a holy dependence, and as they continue therein, to cause the pure incomes of his holy life to flow in upon them they have good reason to be satisfied, because by this the soul is more strengthened and confirmed in the love of God, and armed against the power of sin, than by any other means; this being a foretaste of that enjoyment of God which the saints in heaven possess, and which he frequently affords to his children for their comfort and encouragement, especially when assembled together to wait upon him.
Although this divine and spiritual devotion may be experienced when our hands are employed in the business of this world, and no doubt many pious souls are poured out before God in secret, under a thankful sense of his mercy and his grace, yet such will be also drawn to assemble together, that they may unite in spirit in this duty. Those who sincerely attend to it, will know the promise fulfilled; “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.”