As New Testament Christians, we know that the Mosaic Law has never saved anyone, and that it cannot save anyone. But at the same time, we often believe that our own rote, pious obedience is what pleases God. If this were true, then no doubt the Law of Moses would have saved a great a many people.

The book of Proverbs speaks to nearly every area of life, including the way that we worship. It does so by teaching us that God desires more than obedience from His people. Worship is an every day, every moment attitude – not merely a series of religious actions.

Proverbs 21:3 “To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”

Worship relates not only to what you do, but more deeply to who you are. Therefore, you must learn to worship God with your heart, because that is how you do His desires for your life.

Wise Worship begins with the fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 15:8 “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: But the prayer of the upright is his delight.”

               Our worship must be tested by God’s response to it.

While many people test their worship by how it makes them feel. Others measure worship simply by whether or not they did the actions of worship. However, neither of these extremes are right because they are both focused on self instead of on God.

In Proverbs 15:8, there are two types of people: the wicked and the upright. The wicked person’s prayer, sacrifice, or other form of worship brings only dishonor to God. Generally speaking, someone who doesn’t know God or want to know God isn’t going to come to worship in a godly way. Proverbs 21:27 indicates that the wicked person may even come to worship with evil intentions – worshipping in a way that dishonors God on purpose.

But the upright person delights the Lord because their worship is in line with God’s desires. Their worship acknowledges God’s power and desires His will, like Jesus’ prayer in the Garden in Luke 22:42. Their worship acknowledges our own sin, like Isaiah’s cry in Isaiah 6:5.

In short, wise worship begins with the fear of the Lord. It is centered on Him because He is the object of our worship. We must therefore worship how God desires.

Proverbs 28:5, “Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the Lord understand all things.”

Only by seeking to know and submit to God will we be able to worship Him in wisdom. As a believer, you ought to be seeking God – and thus to be learning His judgment and justice so that you might walk in His ways and worship Him as He desires.

Wise Worship is a mindset before it is an action.

Proverbs 21:3 “To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”

Sacrifices under the Mosaic Law were basically for two things: either to express remorse and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness, or to praise and worship God voluntarily. But here, it says that living right is of greater value to God than all the sacrifices you could make.

This verse takes us back to the reason that we worship.

As the Israelites stood on the banks of the Jordan River preparing to enter the Promised Land and conquer it by God’s mighty hand, Moses gives them one final sermon in Deuteronomy 30.

Deuteronomy 30:15-16, “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.”

Did you notice what comes before obedience? Love for God.

If the Israelites stopped loving God, that’s when they would stop obeying the Law. And so it is for us: if we, as God’s children, stop loving God, then we will not be able to engage in true worship.

Justice and judgment are more acceptable to God because they are a result of a heart that has first loved God.

Rote obedience is not what pleases God. We must first turn to Him for salvation and receive His love (1 John 4:10), so that we may first know Him, then love Him with our whole hearts.

At this point, it would be easy to say, “here’s the X, Y, and Z checkboxes that you must check off next.” But that misses the point. So, let us simply be exhorted by God’s Word to learn to fear and love God. Certainly, we do so by going to church, spending time in God’s Word, spending time in prayer, meditating on God’s Word; but we do not do these things as mere religious tasks. We do them so that we may learn to fear God, love God, and therefore worship Him according to His wisdom.

Questions for Discussion:

1. Read Proverbs 15:8. What is the difference between the wicked and the upright? Why does God accept the worship of one, but not the other?

2. Read Proverbs 21:27. Have you ever come to worship with sinful intentions? What are some ways that you have done so, or that a person might do so?

3. Read Proverbs 28:5 and 9:10. How does learning to fear the Lord teach us to worship Him in wisdom?

 4. Proverbs 21:3. Why are justice and judgment (i.e., righteousness and justice) more valuable to God than obedience to the Law?

5. Read Deuteronomy 30:15-20. What was to come before obedience to the Law?