Singing: This is a wonderful part of the Lord’s Supper. If you read through the Psalms, you see that singing was a large part of the worship experience then as well. Singing can lend an element of unity to a gathering—binding us together in common thoughts. It can stir your heart in devotion.
However, it should be remembered that singing is the vicarious assumption of someone else’s sentiments. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because sometimes we get to a point where we’re not sure how to articulate what is on our heart. Some people have been especially equipped to express the feelings of the heart, so we take their sentiments as our own. But when it comes down to it, it is still their sentiment.
On the negative side, singing can distract us. It can become a merely soulish experience. We’re there to worship the Lord in spirit and truth. Singing can become vain repetition or we can lose concentration. Sometimes I wonder how we can sing our way through some hymns and not weep. They often contain tremendous thoughts, but we can breeze right over them.
The soul is that part of us which includes the seat of our emotions. The involvement of the emotions, of our soul, is something we need in our worship meetings. We should come before the Lord with a sense of joy tinged with sorrow as we recognize the great sacrifice that was given on our behalf. But if we come to that meeting out of mere duty, and leave it with disappointment, something is wrong. It should be a time of joy when God’s people can truly sing praise to the Lord.
Perhaps singing should be the first step in a series of ascents that bring us closer to the Lord in worship. It is good at the start of a meeting for us to have some hymns that get our minds directed. The man who gives out the first hymn needs to be a spiritually discerning man, because often that first hymn sets the theme for the meeting. Hopefully everyone has been preparing beforehand and the Holy Spirit has all of this worship ready to play in tune. If the first hymn is just right, it will bring our hearts together and lead them along.
As the meeting progresses, after the saints are focused, I think there should be a diminshing of the number of hymns. The closer we come to passing the bread and wine, the closer we will draw to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I think it comes to a point where we’re just bowing in reverence. We arrive at the place of silent adoration and prayer.
It’s a great thing to adopt someone else’s sentiments and sing these great words, “Oh for a thousand tongues to sing…” but what the Lord is looking for is for you to say right from the heart, “I love You, Lord. I worship You this morning.” That’s what He desires, if expressed in spirit and truth. We need to get past Lord’s Suppers that are merely sing-songs.
Biblical Meditations: It is appropriate in the Lord’s Supper to have someone read from the Scriptures. The Word of God is full of the Lord Jesus Christ. He tells us that Himself in Luke 24. It is a primary source to remind us of events in the Lord’s life. It’s good to read over the story of the crucifixion of our Lord. It reminds us of His Person.
Unfortunately, often when someone opens up the Scriptures, it becomes a teaching or exhortational message. When that happens, it is directed towards the audience. Bible reading can be given in a worshipful way, stirring up adoration in our hearts, but I’m not sure that even this is pure worship. The speaker can become the focus—we may get caught up with how effectively someone is expressing their thoughts. And it can consume an inordinate share of the meeting.
As well, too many speakers can create confusion and a loss of theme. It takes great discernment for someone to read something out of the Scriptures and make comments about it. Yet when the Word of God falls on the ears of the listeners, the Spirit will draw out the things of the Lord Jesus Christ that He wants us to think about at that particular moment.
Prayer: Prayer is a wonderful thing as it reflects your own sentiments concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course sometimes we take the thoughts of others (every one of us is a compendium of things that we’ve heard throughout our lives). Prayer requires full concentration—we can’t let our minds wander. And it can become vain repetition—if we merely repeat well-worn sayings week after week. Someone can say the same thing from week to week and it still be a true expression of their heart, but each time it should come in the freshness of present enjoyment.
Be careful that the subject matter is appropriate: worship is a time to be focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, not asking for blessing, etc.
True, heart-felt prayer is an outward expression of the highest form of worship that we can offer. When a man expresses his worship to the Lord, he is taking the highest place that he can take as a human being. The most significant thing that you can do as a human being is to offer your personal worship to the almighty God of heaven, whether audibly or inaudibly.
We live in an age of women’s rights and feminism within the church, as well as in society. Yet as women silently offer their worship, they bring great delight to the heart of God, obeying the standards which He has established in His Word. I wonder what it is going to be like, sister, at the Judgment Seat of Christ when the Lord Himself calls you forth to receive of the gold you have brought when you worshiped silently at the Lord’s Supper? It is going to be a stunning moment. If you read through the Scriptures you will see that those who seemed the most spiritually sensitive were often women. You have brought much delight to God’s heart.
For both men and women, that time spent in silent worship is precious—unalloyed by any other human when you lift up your heart and simply say, “Lord Jesus Christ, I love You because of who You are and because of what You have done.”
That is what the Lord’s Supper is all about. It is coming together and seeing the Holy Spirit bring our attention to some aspect of Christ and the work that He has done. We sing hymns and then perhaps someone reads an appropriate passage or two, but throughout, one brother after another gets up and worships.
Some have the idea that the Lord’s Supper is a passive, corporate experience, that is, for the most part I am going to sit and “take in”—I’m going to listen to what other people have to say. The Lord’s Supper should be an active, individual experience, and then it will become a blessed corporate experience. You should be coming there as if you were all alone and that hour is your time to adore the Lord Jesus Christ. The hymns that are given out, the scriptures that are read, and the corporate prayer that is offered do help to draw us in, but it remains an individual experience. Sometimes men give out a hymn ten or fifteen minutes into the meeting and then think, “That’s it for me.” We lean back and maybe let our mind wander—we’re no longer a part of the process.
God asks us to come once a week and we should mentally be a part of that meeting. How often do we sit there and not concentrate, allowing our mind to wander? Whether you say anything or not, your mind should be focused on Christ for that time. Can I not give one hour to the Lord of glory, to think of Him and let thoughts of Him flood through my soul?
God’s people need to take some time to prepare beforehand. When you think of the offerings in the Old Testament, how could it ever be that someone would just walk up and say, “I’m ready to offer. What do I need to do?” That was unheard of!
We wouldn’t approach anything else like that in life, either! If you’re going to have something to offer in worship, it’s going to take preparation beforehand. Whether or not you participate audibly, you should be prepared. That involves letting the Holy Spirit take the Word of God and apply it to your heart to give you something of Christ to offer to the Lord. The night beforehand, we should examine ourselves and confess things so that when we come to the Lord, we’re right morally to worship Him.
I think every assembly should have a class for new converts and those who are interested as to the function and form of a Lord’s Supper where an elder or someone who is capable teaches what worship truly is. Some people can be in fellowship in a local assembly and break bread every Sunday for years without having proper teaching on worship.
Public teaching is good, but nothing compensates for one-on-one teaching. These things need to be done carefully and kindly, but they need to be done. We can’t expect people to operate in ignorance about what worship is. Sometimes people go home and lament, “That just wasn’t worship.” Or, “That just wasn’t right.” Don’t lament. Do something practical about it. Sit down together with some of the young people or new converts and explain the principles of worship.
We need positive encouragement from some of the older believers. It a wonderful thing when someone says, “You know, young man, I really enjoyed what you had to say this morning. It was a blessing to my soul. It stirred up my own worship.” May the Lord help us learn the way inside the veil, and finding our way there often, to worship in spirit and truth.
Written by Sandy McEachern