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Whatever other ends are secured by sanctuary service, — the education of thought, the quickening of sensibility, and the deepening of religious trust, — this is one main end, the worship of God. We bow before God because He is infinitely just, and true, and pure, and good, — worthy of all our reverence and love; and the song of redemption, as it is celebrated in heaven, fixes our attention upon the glory of the Saviour's nature, as well as the merit of the Saviour's work.

I. EVERYTHING IN A CHRISTIAN SERVICE SHOULD BE REGULATED SO AS TO ADVANCE SPIRITUAL LIFE. The instincts of a fervent Christian man will resent all that is showy and formal, and will rejoice in all that lifts his heart and his thoughts into communion with the living God.

II. IF THAT SPIRITUAL WORSHIP BE PRESENT THERE WILL BE NO CRY FOR FORMS OF PRAYER. To enjoy prayer is one of the marks of true devoutness, and when there is delight in approaching God, the soul will choose its own simplest forms of speech. They will be touched with a broken spirit and a contrite heart. Meditation is prayer in preparation, and prayer is preparation spoken.

III. IN THE PRESERVATION OF SPIRITUAL DEVOUTNESS THE WORSHIPPERS HAVE MUCH TO DO. Remember this: that worship must be in harmony with our life, and not a brilliant exception to it. True prayer is connected with the continuous life of God in the soul. It is not the lifting up into a region we are strangers to, a kind of Alpine summit situation to which we have painfully climbed, but rather the enjoyment of an air which is the common breath of our souls. Then the worshipper can afford his earnest and hearty Amen! This he ought to do, this God wishes him to do: "Let all the people say, Amen."

IV. IN SUCH SPIRITUAL WORSHIP, PRAISE TAKES, ITS APPROPRIATE PLACE. We desiderate united praise. It is not loudness we want; shouting, either in preaching, praise, or prayer, is not power; but we do want the united service of all voices and hearts, as they are touched with the Spirit of the living God. Nothing is so painful as a kind of languid indifference, or a listless mannerism, as though we had little at all to do with the service. Every man, woman, and child in the sanctuary ought to sing, ought to be in earnest about it, and ought to do their best at it.

V. IN SUCH SPIRITUAL SERVICE WE ARE TYPING AND TASTING THE WORSHIP OF HEAVEN. That worship we may well believe will be all that is deepest in reverence, all that is sweetest in melody, all that is purest in love.

(W. M. Statham.)

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KJV: O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.

WEB: Oh come, let's worship and bow down. Let's kneel before Yahweh, our Maker,