Matthew 13:52, “And Jesus said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.'” Psalm 33:3, “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.”

Based upon the redemptive work of Christ

Revelation 5 is one of the most moving and powerful pictures of worship in all of Scripture. The chapter begins with a mysterious scroll “written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals,” representing God’s purposes for creation. A voice goes out into the world, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” When no one is found, John, the author of Revelation, begins to weep. But an “elder” comforts him and says, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (v. 5). John looks up and sees Jesus – “a Lamb standing as though it had been slain” – who takes the scroll “from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.” Verses 8-10 then read: “And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb . . . and they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.'” Worship is a response to the reality of what God has and will accomplish through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Worship is empowered by accepting, with both our heads and our hearts, who God is and what he has done.