worshiper

Biblical and Early Church Models of the Confession of Sin

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In traditional Christian worship, acts of confession of sin may appear in the acts of entrance, the service of the Word, or at the Lord’s Table in association with the prayer of thanksgiving. In the worship of the contemporary liturgical renewal, the confession of sin usually occurs after the prayers of intercession, marking the transition into the service of the Lord’s Table. Prayers of confession are not usually found in the corporate worship of evangelical and charismatic churches; confession of sin is an act that usually accompanies individual conversion to Christ and personal counseling situations, rather than the life of the gathered assembly.

The concept of “confession” in the Bible is broader than the confession of sin; it includes above all the acknowledgment of the historic saving deeds of the Lord. Confession thus has a dominant creedal element that focuses attention on God rather than on the worshiper. Biblical worship is typically not introspective, as worship tends to be in contemporary North American culture. The Hebrew word for “making confession” means to confess Yahweh: to “confess [his] name” (1 Kings 8:33) and to acknowledge his acts in behalf of his people; it is often translated “give thanks.” Israel is often invited to “Confess Yahweh, that he is good; for his covenant love is forever” (Ps. 136:1, author’s translation). Confession is “agreement with God” in the sense of ratification of his offer of covenant.

This does not mean that the biblical worshiper is unmindful of sin in approaching the Lord. On the contrary, the majesty and dignity of the Holy One frequently evoke an acute consciousness of the worshiper’s sinful estate. One thinks of the archetypical experience of Isaiah, beholding in vision the presence of the Lord of Hosts in the sanctuary, and crying, “Woe to me! … I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5). The sin of which Isaiah is conscious is not in the first instance his violation of moral precepts or of the laws of God; rather, it is the deeper sin of having trespassed into forbidden territory, the creature’s fleeting glimpse of the glory of his Creator: “My eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” It is not humanity’s meditation on itself that calls forth confession of sin but the revelation of the surpassing worth of the awesome God: “Man shall not see me and live” (Exod. 33:20 RSV). Biblical confession is always God-centered.

The sacrificial worship of the Israelite sanctuary was based on the worshiper’s awareness of the distance between him or her, as a member of an all-too-often faithless and indifferent people, and Yahweh in his holiness and faithfulness to the covenant. While prayers of confession of sin are not typically part of the sacrificial worship, it is the Lord’s express desire that his people “humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways” (2 Chron. 7:14).

Thus prayers of confession are found in the Davidic worship of the Psalms, which express a personal and intense relationship between the Lord and his “godly ones” or ḥ‡sidim (Pss. 50:5 nasb; 149:5 nasb), those returning his covenant love. For such worshipers, consciousness of having violated the divine commandments can become a matter of acute spiritual crisis, as given voice in David’s outcry:

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.… Do not cast me away from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. (Ps. 51:4, 11)

The psalmists recognize the necessity of confession of sin in order to open oneself to the forgiveness of God, to restore the broken relationship:

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”— and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found. (Ps. 32:3–6)

Although such prayers are offered in the form of an individual confession, the speaker—especially in the role of the king—represents the community as a whole. Moreover, the use of the Psalms in the celebrations of the sanctuary, through the performance of the Levitical singers and musicians, places their confessional portions, along with all else, within the orbit of corporate worship.

There are also psalms (such as Pss. 78; 106) that specifically address the corporate sin of the nation in the form of extended confessions of both Yahweh’s deeds of deliverance and the people’s rebellion and unfaithfulness:

But then they would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues. Their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant. (Ps. 78:36–37)

We have sinned even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. (Ps. 106:6)

The psalmists are aware that the sin of the community is not hidden from the Lord; they call on him for his mercy:

You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. (Ps. 90:8)

Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need. (Ps. 79:8)

Similar confessions of sin are found in the utterances of individual spokespersons for the Israelite community during the Exile and the following period of restoration. Lamentations, written by Jeremiah, is a confession of national sin. The prophet Daniel prayed a prayer (Dan. 9:4–19) acknowledging that the curse of Yahweh’s judgment was justified by the unfaithfulness of the people (cf. 2 Chron. 6:37). He pleaded with the Lord to turn his wrath away from Jerusalem and to restore his presence in the sanctuary. Nehemiah prayed a prayer of the same type upon learning of the distress of the remnant in Judea in the early postexilic years (Neh. 1:5–11). While not corporate prayers, these confessions may have been based on liturgical models recalled from the suspended worship of the Jerusalem sanctuary.

The early Christians were a community gathered around the joyous “good news” of the Resurrection and the restoration of the broken covenant in Jesus Christ. The church viewed itself as the “Jerusalem that is above” which was freed from the bondage of guilt under the law (Gal. 4:26); for those spiritually reborn in Christ, “therefore, there is now no condemnation” (Rom. 8:1–2). As the bride of Christ, the church is “the Holy City, the new Jerusalem” (Rev. 21:2), a “general festal gathering” (panēguris, Heb. 12:22 author’s translation). The New Testament church was a celebrative assembly in which corporate prayers of confession of sin were out of place. The church’s confession was confession of Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God (1 John 4:15; 2 John 2:7), the anticipation of a universal confession “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:11).

That individual Christians might sin, however, was readily acknowledged, and provision was made for the worshiper to confess his or her faults and be restored. Thus James urged believers to “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16), while John reminded the church that Jesus Christ is its Advocate with the Father, and that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

The recognition of persistent human failure and unfaithfulness, even within the community of those who had responded to the call of God in Christ, eventually led to the inclusion of prayers of corporate confession into Christian liturgies, often as acts of preparation for participation in the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion. An example of a contemporary prayer of general confession, based on historic models, is taken from the Lutheran Book of Worship (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1978):

Most merciful God, we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

Biblical Models of Silence

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Silence is often unrecognized as an act of worship. However, it is an important element in the biblical attitude of awe before the majesty and mystery of a holy God.

The biblical worshiper encounters God in the first instance as the Holy One, whose being cannot be encompassed by the categories of the human intellect (Isa. 55:8–9; Rom. 11:33). The communication of the presence of the holy comes intuitively, in the sense of awe and mystery before a reality that transcends the normal or mundane plane of human experience. The response of the biblical worshiper is like that of Jacob (“How awesome is this place!” Gen. 28:17), Isaiah (“Woe to me! … I am ruined! … my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty,” Isa. 6:5), or John the Revelator (“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead,” Rev. 1:17). Such a response issues from a process in the human personality that operates at a level deeper than that of rational reflection. Where this element of the numinous is missing, worship fails to approach the intensity and depth of biblical worship.

In the presence of the mystery of the being of God, silence is an appropriate act of worship. Silence is the recognition that human utterance is often presumptuous in the face of divine self-revelation. Before the Creator, the creature must confront his or her finitude. The worshiper is as nothing before him who is all. The biblical worshiper understands that to occupy oneself with verbal products of the human mind is an act of pride, in effect a denial of God’s place as sovereign Lord (Ps. 131:1; Job 42:3). Thus, when God speaks, there is nothing for the argumentative Job to do but repent: “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth” (Job 40:4). Sounds of human origin—speech, music, or other noise—can be idolatrous creations, like images of wood or stone. “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (Hab. 2:20). In the sanctuary of Zion, there is silence before there is praise (Ps. 65:1). As the recognition of the kingship of God, worship is the revelation of his judgments; and when his judgments are so manifested, an awesome and suspenseful silence must fall even on the saints. In the book of Revelation, at the breaking of the seventh seal releasing the outpouring of God’s wrath, “there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (Rev. 8:1).

Many churches have incorporated periods of silence into their orders of worship, usually for “silent prayer,” although there is little biblical basis for such a concept. The silences of biblical worship are not for prayer, which is always vocal, but rather are for a response to the manifestation of the majesty and mystery of God, and therefore a part of his praise. Silence used dramatically at high moments of celebration, is an aspect of worship in which there is much room for creative development according to scriptural models.

The Covenant in the Psalms of Petition

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The covenant between the Lord and his people, represented especially by the Davidic king, is the governing theological concept in psalmic worship. The covenant is the basis for the worshiper’s appeal to the Lord, and covenant terminology supplies themes and motifs that are prominent especially in the psalms of petition.

The Davidic Kingship

The covenant is an agreement granted by Yahweh, as the Great King, to his servant people, represented in the Psalms especially by the Davidic ruler. The traditional identification of half the Psalms with David, as well as the obvious association of many of the Psalms with the king as military leader and spokesman for the community, underscore the association of the Psalter with the Judean royal house. The Jerusalem sanctuary, with its priesthood and musicians, was established by David and Solomon and continued under the patronage of the royal house of Judah. A theology of the Lord’s special choice and anointing of David and his dynasty, first enunciated by the prophet Nathan (2 Sam. 7:7–17), seems to have been developed in association with the worship on Zion. Thus many of the Psalms appear to be for the use of the king (or in his behalf), as the covenant partner or vassal of the Lord, the “great King.”

He gives his king great victories,
He shows [covenant love] to his anointed,
To David and his descendants forever. (Ps. 18:50)

But the king will rejoice in God;
All who swear by God’s name will praise him,
While the mouths of liars will be silenced. (Ps. 63:11)

The Psalms reflect the king’s involvement in warfare. They represent him engaged in a bitter struggle against dangerous enemies, the opponents of Yahweh’s covenant, calling out to the Lord for deliverance and vindication in behalf of the righteous. Several psalms celebrate the Lord’s covenant with David to establish his dynasty in Zion (Pss. 89; 110; 132). There are special psalms associated with the coronation of the Davidic ruler (Pss. 2; 72), and even a nonreligious poem celebrating the royal marriage (Ps. 45).

In all this, however, the king stands before the Lord on behalf of the community. He speaks as the representative worshiper, and what he says to the Lord is generalized to express the need and the devotion of all the faithful. The same principle applies to the Lord’s words to the king in the Psalms; they declare his faithfulness and deliverance to all worshipers. Biblical culture did not think of personality in the individualistic way to which we in the West are accustomed; the Hebraic mind worked with an understanding of “corporate personality,” in which the individual’s view of himself or herself was bound up in his or her solidarity with the leader of the community. (Christ’s atonement for the sin of others and his impartation of new life to those who are “in Christ” can be fully understood only in light of this Hebraic sense of corporate identity.) For these reasons, it is not always appropriate to distinguish between the “individual” and the “community” psalms.

Yahweh’s Covenant Love

The Psalms in several places refer to the covenant granted by the Lord as the foundation for Israel’s hope of deliverance from distress, the basis for the doctrine of the enduring rule of the Davidic dynasty, and the formulation of the worshiping community’s obligation to its God:

He provided redemption for his people;
He ordained his covenant forever—
Holy and awesome is his name. (Ps. 111:9)

You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant,
I will establish your line forever
And make your throne firm through all generations. (Ps. 89:3–4)

He took note of their distress
When he heard their cry;
For their sake he remembered his covenant
And out of his great [covenant love] he relented. (Ps. 106:44–45)

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s [covenant] love is with
Those who fear him,
And his righteousness with their children’s children—
With those who keep his covenant
And remember to obey his precepts. (Ps. 103:17–18)

Although the community of Israel has bound itself to God by covenant (Ps. 50:5) and is pledged to abide by its precepts, in the psalmist’s eyes it is chiefly the Lord who, having initially granted the covenant, upholds it by his grace. Frequently the Psalms speak of his “faithfulness” (’ƒmunah) and his “righteousness” (tzƒdaqah); these qualities are not indiscriminately displayed attributes of God but more specifically express his active intervention in the life of his people to maintain the covenant. Virtually synonymous with these terms, and used more frequently (more than 120 times in 53 psalms), is the word ḥesed, often translated as “loving-kindness,” “love,” “steadfast love,” or “mercy.” Again, Yahweh’s ḥesed is not his impartial benevolence to all creation but specifically his love and mercy to his own people, out of loyalty to the covenant. Only those who have obligated themselves in treaty with the Great King have the right to appeal to him on the basis of his ḥesed; the best translation is, therefore “covenant love.”

In a treaty relationship, the servant-king may appeal to the overlord for protection from enemies on the basis of the great king’s good offices in granting the agreement and his loyalty to his word. In the same manner, it is in virtue of the Lord’s covenant love to his servants that the worshiper may plead with him for help and salvation:

Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;
According to your [covenant love] remember me,
For you are good, O Lord. (Ps. 25:7)

Rise up and help us;
Redeem us because of your [covenant love]. (Ps. 44:26)

In your [covenant love], silence my enemies;
Destroy all my foes,
For I am your servant. (Ps. 143:12)

In many respects “covenant love” is the key word or concept in the book of Psalms; it pervades all that is said to, or about, Yahweh, whether the word ḥesed is present or not. In its praise of the Lord, Israel joyfully celebrates his covenant love:

It is good to [confess to] the Lord
And make music to your name, O Most High,
To proclaim your [covenant love] in the morning
And your faithfulness at night. (Ps. 92:1–2)

The most oft-repeated thanksgiving in the Psalter (Pss. 106:1; 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1–26; cf. 1 Chron. 16:34; 2 Chron. 20:21) praises Yahweh for his loyalty to the covenant. Yet in times of distress, the Psalms express the community’s anguish with shocking candor. The speaker may even take the Lord to task for seemingly failing to honor his obligation to defend his partner:

You sold your people for a pittance,
Gaining nothing from their sale.
You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
The scorn and derision of those around us.…
All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten you
Or been false to your covenant. (Ps. 44:12–13, 17)

You have renounced the covenant with your servant
And have defiled his crown in the dust. (Ps. 89:39)

Such language reveals the extent to which the concept of the treaty could be taken in Israel’s understanding of its relationship with Yahweh.

The Righteous and the Wicked

The Faithful and the Ungodly Contrasted. The theme of the opposition between the faithful worshiper and his ungodly enemies, which surfaces repeatedly in the book of Psalms, is an integral part of the covenant pattern of psalmic worship. This motif predominates in the first part of the Psalter, the “prayers of David,” and extends into the remainder of the collection as well; in its various forms, it is present in fully half of the Psalms. On the whole, the Psalms do not present a picture of a people worshiping in complacent unity, but rather reflect an intense struggle for dominance between rival groups within the nation. Some have taken this as evidence for a late origin for the Psalms, reflecting the period when the Jews dwelt alongside other cultural groups in the context of larger empires. However, this is essentially the same situation as that depicted in the pre-exilic prophetic books, in which Israel’s covenant with Yahweh is viewed as being in constant jeopardy due to spiritual indifference and the encroachments of false religious influences.

The contrast between the faithful and the ungodly is set forth at the very beginning of the Psalter, in the introductory psalm:

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish. (Ps. 1:5–6)

The Psalms exclude from the sanctuary of the Lord those who have made a covenant, lifting the hand in oath, with divinities other than Yahweh, the true God:

Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who does not lift up his soul to what is false,
And does not swear deceitfully. (Ps. 24:3–4 RSV)

The Worshiper’s Pledge of Loyalty. Frequently, the speaker affirms his loyalty to Yahweh in terms reminiscent of the vassal’s response ratifying the treaty offered by the great king. Thus, the psalmist often pledges himself to the Lord with expressions such as “You are my God” (Pss. 63:1; 118:28; 140:6; 143:10), “You are my [Yahweh]” (Ps. 16:2), or “You are my King” (Ps. 44:4; cf. Ps. 74:12). This pledge is in contrast to the attitude of his adversaries, those outside the covenant. Typical of this response is Psalm 31:

I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
I trust in the Lord.…
They conspire against me
And plot to take my life.
But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hands;
Deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.
Let your face shine on your servant;
Save me in your [covenant love]. (Ps. 31:6, 13–16)

The Enemies and Their Fate. The psalmist’s enemies appear in many guises. They may be people bringing false accusation (Ps. 109:2–5) or who ridicule the worshiper’s submission to the Lord (Ps. 69:7–12); the prosperous whose wealth renders them arrogant and indifferent to spiritual matters (Ps. 73:3); former friends and fellow worshipers who have turned against the speaker (Ps. 55:12–14); rebels within the community (Ps. 86:14), potential assassins (Pss. 56:6; 59:3), or foreign invaders (Ps. 79:1–4). The common thread is that they are a menace to the worshiper and stand outside the covenant with Yahweh. More than thirty psalms include a description of these enemies:

Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,
And abhor those who rise up against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies. (Ps. 139:21–22)

An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes. (Ps. 36:1)

His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats;
Trouble and evil are under his tongue.
He lies in wait near the villages;
From ambush he murders the innocent,
Watching in secret for his victims. (Ps. 10:7–8)

The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow
To bring down the poor and needy,
To slay those whose ways are upright. (Ps. 37:14)

Against the ungodly the worshiper often feels inadequate; his enemies seem to be the wealthy, the privileged, and the powerful:

Therefore pride is their necklace;
They clothe themselves with violence.
From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
The evil consents of their minds knows no limits.
They scoff, and speak with malice;
In their arrogance they threaten oppression.
Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
And their tongues take possession of the earth. (Ps. 73:6–9)

Because of Yahweh’s faithfulness, however, the fate of the worshiper’s enemies is sealed. Although the psalmist’s situation may appear desperate from the perspective of ordinary life, when he enters the place of worship he receives a new insight:

When I tried to understand all this,
It was oppressive to me
Till I entered the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their final destiny.
Surely you place them on slippery ground;
You cast them down to ruin. (Ps. 73:16–18)

The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood
Or take up their names on my lips. (Ps. 16:4)

The imprecatory psalms, or psalms of cursing, are an important part of the psalmic portrayal of the defeat of the enemies. Like the curses of the ancient treaty, they invoke the sanctions against those who, as opponents of Yahweh and his servant, have broken the bonds of covenant faithfulness. Psalm 109 is the epitome of these psalms of cursing:

When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
And may his prayers condemn him.
May his days be few;
May another take his place of leadership.
May his children be fatherless
And his wife a widow.…
May a creditor seize all he has;
May strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.…
For he never thought of [acting according to covenant love],
But hounded to death the poor and the needy
And the brokenhearted.…
May this be the Lord’s payment to my accusers,
To those who speak evil of me. (Ps. 109:7–9, 11, 16, 20)

The Lord’s Deliverance

The Appeal of the Worshiper. The Psalms echo with the worshiper’s appeal to the Lord for deliverance from his enemies and for the vindication of his determination to remain faithful to the covenant. Repeatedly the speaker cries out, “Hear my cry!” or “Save me!” or “Rescue me!”

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
For false witnesses rise up against me,
Breathing out violence. (Ps. 27:12)

Vindicate me, O God, and plead my [case] against an ungodly nation;
Rescue me from deceitful and wicked men. (Ps. 43:1)
Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness;
Turn your ear to me and save me. (Ps. 71:2)

Deliver me and rescue me from the hand of [aliens],
Whose mouths are full of lies,
Whose right hands are deceitful. (Ps. 144:11)

The Lord’s Answer; the Worshiper’s Vow. The psalmist’s petition never goes unanswered. Even the most intense and anguished portrayals of the worshiper’s plight also include some recognition that the Lord has heard the speaker’s prayer. The psalmist celebrates the Lord’s answer, his victory, his faithfulness to the covenant. Closely associated with the proclamation of Yahweh’s deliverance is the worshiper’s vow of thanksgiving and praise; he promises to make the Lord’s saving deeds known to the worshiping congregation.

For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one;
He has not hidden his face from him
But has listened to his cry for help.
From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
Before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. (Ps. 22:24–25)

I will not die but live,
And will proclaim what the Lord has done.
The Lord has chastened me severely,
But he has not given me over to death.
Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. (Ps. 118:17–19)

As a response to Yahweh’s faithfulness to the covenant, the speaker promises to perform the vow of praise (Pss. 65:1; 116:14), to give thanks or render thank offerings (Pss. 30:12; 35:18; 56:12; 116:17), to declare the Lord’s righteousness (Ps. 35:28), to sing praise, sometimes to instrumental accompaniment (Pss. 30:12; 43:4; 61:8; 69:30; 71:22), or simply to praise the Lord (Pss. 22:22; 63:3; 71:23). The worshiper, while still pleading for the Lord’s help, may offer the vow as an “incentive” for the Lord to save him:

O Lord, how long will you look on?
Rescue my life from their ravages,
My precious life from these lions.
I will give you thanks in the great assembly;
Among throngs of people I will praise you. (Ps. 35:17–18)

The worshiper’s act of praise is his covenant obligation to Yahweh; it is part of the tribute the servant brings to the Great King. The worshiper does not hesitate to remind the Lord that he will not receive his tribute unless he rescues his vassal:

No one remembers you when he is dead.
Who praises you from the grave? (Ps. 6:5)

Is your [covenant love] declared in the grave,
Your faithfulness in Destruction? (Ps. 88:11)

Entire psalms may be given over to the celebration of Yahweh’s deeds of redemption, whether in the past or yet to come (Pss. 27; 30; 46; 76; 118; 124). Occasionally, the voice of the sanctuary prophet heralds the Lord’s protection and deliverance to the faithful:

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.” (Ps. 91:14–15)

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
He will watch over your life;
The Lord will watch over your coming and going
Both now and forevermore. (Ps. 121:7–8)

Such utterances are a reminder that it is in the sanctuary that the Lord hears the plea of the afflicted (Ps. 18:6), and it is in the sanctuary that he reveals and enacts his deliverance (Pss. 73:17; 76:2–3). The Psalms, however realistically they may portray the life situation of the worshiper, do so not in the context of that original situation—the street, the marketplace, the sickbed, the battlefield—but in the midst of the assembly gathered in the presence of the Lord. They are a cultic reenactment of problems and difficulties encountered in remaining faithful to the Lord, so that the good news of his covenant love may be applied to them in the setting of the worshiping congregation.

The Priest As Worship Leader in the Old Testament

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In the directives of Moses, priests were specially commissioned for the role of representing the people before the Lord and thus occupied a central position in the worship life of the covenant people.

The Role of the Priest

The proper role of the priest in worship was to officiate in sacrifice and offering in order to to propitiate the Deity on behalf of the worshiper. Whereas the prophet was the spokesman of the Lord, the priest represented the people before God. The prophet was privy to the counsels of God in virtue of the word that came to him by the Spirit (Amos 3:7–8; Isa. 61:1; Ezek. 6:1; 2 Pet. 1:21). The Word of the Lord burned like a fire within him (Jer. 20:9). With the priest, access to the Deity was by a careful process of consecration (Lev. 8–9), wherein enough of the overpowering holiness of the Lord was communicated to him so that he could safely approach the divine and awesome presence; otherwise, he would risk being struck down in wrath as a trespasser in forbidden territory.

The priest’s consecration rendered him “holy to his God” (Lev. 21:7 NASB), that is, set apart from the ordinary or the profane. For this reason, special conditions were placed on his life-style. He was not to defile himself by contact with a corpse, except that of a close family member (Lev. 21:1–4), nor cut his beard nor shave his head (Lev. 21:5), nor marry a woman who had been a prostitute or was divorced (Lev. 21:7). The priest who served at the altar needed to be free of physical defects and deformities (Lev. 21:16–21). He was not to drink wine during his time of ministering before the Lord (Lev. 10:9–10).

As one thus set apart, the priest could “draw near” (hiqriv) to the Lord officiate in sacrifice, and place the offerings on the altar. His vocation was to minister (sheret) before Yahweh, performing the service (‘‡vodah) of the house of the Lord, whether it was the service of the altar or the service of song and prayer. But the priest’s activity could extend beyond the performance of sanctuary rites. Indeed, because the number of members of the priestly families of the tribe of Levi was far greater than that required for the service of the house of God, many had to reside in outlying areas far from the sanctuary, making a living from agriculture and from the tithes of local residents (Deut. 14:28–29; Neh. 10:37).

As we have seen, a number of the prophets were of priestly descent. The Levitical priests functioned also as teachers, instructing the people in the traditions of the Lord’s covenant (Deut. 17:9–11; 24:8). They were the recognized custodians (Jer. 18:18; Ezek. 7:26) of the Law of God, or Torah, a word that actually means “teaching” or “instruction.” When the people were without a “teaching priest,” the worship of the Lord lapsed into a state of decay (2 Chron. 15:3). Ezra the priest was “a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses” (Ezra 7:6), whose desire was to teach the Law to Israel. In fact, the Persian ruler Artaxerxes commissioned him for this very task (Ezra 7:25). The priesthood preserved the covenant traditions in both oral and written form and probably was responsible specifically for transmitting the historical and instructional material found in the Pentateuch. Ezra also produced the history of the Chronicler (i.e., Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah), which could have been based on archival records deposited at the sanctuary, as well as on the books of Samuel and Kings.

The High Priest

A special aura surrounded the high priest. He might marry only a virgin from a priestly family (Lev. 21:10–14). A person accused of manslaughter was safe from the avenger in a designated city of refuge, provided he did not leave the city until the death of the high priest in office at the time (Num. 35:25–28). It was the role of the high priest to enter the Most Holy Place, or inner sanctuary, on the Day of Atonement with fire from the altar, incense, and blood from the sacrifices (Lev. 16). The high priest also had the sacred lot, by means of which he executed a decision in difficult cases of judgment (Exod. 28:30; Neh. 7:65).

The high priests periodically worked with Judean kings in programs for the reform and restoration of worship. For example, during the interregnum of Athaliah, the priests concealed the young Joash, heir to the Davidic throne, in the temple; Jehoiada the high priest played a key role in the coup d’état that restored the Davidic monarchy and in the religious restoration that followed (2 Kings 11). When the temple was being repaired early in the reign of Josiah, Hilkiah the high priest found the neglected Book of the Law in the temple and brought it to the attention of the king. The discovery led to a renewal of the covenant and the restoration of temple worship (2 Kings 22:1–23:25). In the postexilic period, the prophet Zechariah saw a vision of Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the governor, who was in the Davidic line, as “the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth” (Zech. 4:14). Encouraged also by the prophet Haggai (Hag. 2:4), Joshua and Zerubbabel worked together to rebuild the house of God (Hag. 1:14). Ezra, priest, and scribe of the Law, led the people in an extended act of confession, the renewal of the covenant, and a pledge to support the service of the house of God (Neh. 8–10).