The consequences of ignoring God’s commands in worship are severe. God has withdrawn His presence from much of Christian worship today as He has done many times throughout history. How many Christians were truly honoring God in their worship in 900 AD? Or in 1300 AD? Or today? The punishment for false worship is not always physical famine or war—it is spiritual famine. As Amos 8 warns, God’s people face a famine of the Word of God when they reject His commands.
When we neglect His inspired psalms and replace them with songs of our own making, we turn away from the bread of life and suffer the consequences. Will we humble ourselves, repent, and return to worshiping God as He has commanded, or will we continue in the way of Cain, offering worship on our own terms? Why is our natural inclination to doubt God, to resist His inspired Word, to look for loopholes or ways around his commands, and to justify ourselves at His expense?
It is said that when Christians worship God rightly, the earth will believe. In one sense, it is no surprise that the correct worship of God is so rare. Christians struggle with many errors in their understanding of God and His Word, and these errors inevitably manifest in their public worship. To correct worship requires addressing these deeper issues, but the reverse is also true—correcting public worship can lead to deeper cleansing of false beliefs. From the beginning, God has commanded that only His Word be used in worship, and we do not need to wait for perfection in other areas to obey this command.
Source: Worship in Spirit and in Truth, Owen Anderson (2025).