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 OSWALD JOHN SIMON 
 
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 KNTEUED AT bTATIOSEKs' HALL. 
 ALL 11IGHTS IIL'SERVED.
 
 (FOURTH EDITION.) 
 
 THE 
 
 WOESHIP OF GOD 
 
 A SERMON. 
 
 BY 
 
 OSWALD JOHN SIMON, 
 
 OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFO1U). 
 
 October^ 1880 5 '> 4 1 . 
 
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 the I.'inl our Maker. " I'mlni '.' 
 
 LONDON : 
 SIMPKIX, MAl;snALL & CQ. 
 
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 W. ,T. T IH ) MI'S OX. 
 AXI) <'F ALT.
 
 ENTEKED AT STATIONERS HALL. 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 To JOHN SIMON, SERJEANT-AT-LAW, M.P., 
 and to RACHEL, his wife, 
 
 With the deepest sentiments of love and filial 
 devotion, I dedicate my first series of Sermons, 
 because they are the first-fruits of the aspirations 
 I inherit from my parents. My position towards 
 my father is like that described by Solomon : "It 
 was in the heart of David my father to build 
 a house to the LORD GOD, but the LORD said to 
 him : It is well that it is in thy heart, though 
 thou shalt not build it; but thy son, he shall 
 build it." I am to my mother as Samuel was 
 to Hannah, for she, too, " prayed for a son 
 who might be lent to the LORD all his days." 
 I fervently pray that all their children and 
 grand children may be the source of comfort 
 and happiness to them for the remainder of their 
 lives, and be worthy inheritors of the treasures of 
 
 soul and intellect which they bequeathe. 
 
 | 
 
 O. J. S.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IN presenting Jews, Christians, and others, with 
 this Sermon it may be well to tell them that 
 it is one of a group of four, about the nature 
 of GOD and the object of Religion, which are 
 connected with several others. Some of them 
 are intended for the Pulpit, but a portion of them 
 for publication in this way. I have often thought 
 that Sermons or Essays, which treat of the in- 
 most experiences of a spiritual life, are better 
 read than spoken. It is with this view I have 
 prepared some Sermons for private perusal. 
 Another reason why I do so is because my 
 optical vision is so defective that, as a general 
 rule, I have to resort to the practice of 
 extempore speaking, and, although I have
 
 dictated this and other writings to an amanuensis, 
 I should feel some strain in reading them. 
 
 If this, or any words of mine, bring some 
 comfort or assistance to no more than a single 
 soul I shall have, in that fact, a very high 
 source of consolation for the many trials and diffi- 
 culties Almighty Providence has decreed for me 
 ere I could enter that career on which the hopes 
 and prayers of my entire life, from my earliest 
 childhood, have been centred. 
 
 OSWALD JOHN SIMON. 
 
 HARVILLE, WYE, KENT. 
 
 4M November, 1880. 
 

 
 THE WORSHIP OF GOD. 
 
 THE worship of GOD is the highest act of which 
 the human mind is capable. It is at once the 
 end and the means of religion ; it is a process 
 of the soul in which faith, love, and resignation 
 are particularly called into play. To worship 
 GOD is to resolve- our higher nature into its 
 original element that is to say, it is to realise 
 the kinship between that nature and our Maker ; 
 it is to enter into the inmost sanctuary of human 
 virtue and divine love. Think, my friends, 
 what it is to enter into direct converse with 
 Almighty GOD ! To think rightly about this 
 we must 'first ex^cise all our spiritual under- 
 standing in order to know, in some degree, what
 
 GOD is whom we endeavour to approach. Then, 
 let us think of the perfection of power, the per- 
 fection of knowledge, the perfection of truth, the 
 perfection of wisdom, the perfection of love, and 
 the perfection of peace. By these thoughts we 
 can see GOD in those attributes of His with 
 which we are familiar. Now, in the act of 
 worship, we, on our side, are frail, prone to error, 
 ignorant, and full of vanity, though also possess- 
 ing virtuous and noble aspirations, and good 
 impulses. In our complete nature we are com- 
 posed of atoms of everything that constitutes 
 us, and we are an atom as a whole ; whilst, on 
 the other side, is the living GOD, who is all that 
 has been described of Him, in infinite propor- 
 tions, and infinitely more than our comprehen- 
 sion can embrace. We, individually, propose 
 to meet Him in our worship, to speak to Him, to 
 utter our wants and woes, our hopes and fears; 
 and, also, to offer Him our homage as the Author 
 of our being and this Universe, and our thanks 
 for His particular mercies^jto ts. *Now, there 
 are here, prayer, homage, and gratitude, to be
 
 conveyed by men, women, and children, to the 
 GOD of the spirits of all flesh to be conveyed by 
 direct intercourse, without any sort of mediation. 
 This is the " Holy of Holies" in the Jewish 
 
 religion. Our prophets, our rabbis, and our 
 
 t 
 other great men, have prescribed every form of 
 
 prayer to show Israelites and Gentiles how they 
 should worship and what should constitute their 
 devotions. Imbued with such teachings the duty 
 of the Israelite is facilitated in cultivating from the 
 earliest age and to the highest degree his native 
 faculty of worship. 
 
 The power of praying to GOD to use a house- 
 hold phrase like other unseen powers, is natural 
 and fruitful. It is born with us ; we inherit it, 
 not only as Israelites, but as men. It is nurtured 
 by the mother, if she be a true Jewess, and 
 at a very early age it is for the child to 
 increase this power by his own self-culture. I 
 am not one of those who would encourage the 
 idea of resigning the proscribed liturgy and 
 substituting for it extempore prayers, or natural 
 thoughts, for three reasons : first, a liturgy
 
 educates the public mind, and, in a sense, levels 
 the congregation ; secondly, it is a discipline to 
 thought, which often wanders, and frequently into 
 channels not calculated to flow towards the highest 
 spiritual good; and,, thirdly, it is the vehicle for 
 transmitting, from generation to generation, the 
 history of the spiritual life of Israel. On the 
 other hand I am equally opposed to a practice 
 which was common in periods of Jewish history 
 not very distant, and which is not yet altogether 
 extinct viz., regarding the liturgy as the com- 
 plete exponent to GOD of individual worship, and 
 therefore rarely or never suffering the individual 
 soul to make his own utterances even in his private 
 chamber. There are many good Israelites who 
 never omit, at the stated times, to recite the prayer- 
 book portions of devotions. These portions are so 
 lengthy that to read them consumes an amount 
 of time which a busy man or schoolboy cannot 
 afford to extend, and the result is that they are left 
 literally no time for their own personal devotions; 
 and such people, from long custom, almost oblit- 
 erate the fact that real worship means a soul
 
 talking itself its own language, its own 
 thoughts to its Creator. 
 
 It is of supreme moment to the preservation of 
 the spirit of our religion that our young should 
 be taught to appreciate and to practise real 
 worship. 
 
 The scheme of life, which is such a vexed ques- 
 tion, is, according to Judaism, to develope human 
 life after the model of the Divine, in whose image 
 man was created. To reduce this, to the compre- 
 hension and realization of every soul, it must be 
 expressed thus : in order to live near to GOD we 
 must detach ourselves from mammon and wean 
 our affections from the snares of the world and 
 the flesh ; therefore it is indispensable that we 
 should endeavour, with every power we possess, 
 to suppress the animal side of our nature, that the 
 higher life the intellectual and spiritual shall 
 enjoy unfettered growth. Everybody is aware of 
 the frailty and weakness of human nature even in 
 the best men and women, and how, in a moment, 
 thoughts, which were engaged in pure aspirations 
 and devout sentiments, are usurped by opposite
 
 6 
 
 feelings how, by the influence of surrounding 
 and temporary conditions, the whole man seems to 
 change this is what we mean when we say of 
 an acquaintance " he was very disagreeable in 
 his manner;" or, of another, "he treated me 
 very kindly." Nothing, then, but intensely 
 active watchfulness can preserve those charms 
 and graces of life which all people appreciate in 
 one another, and which are nothing but the reflex 
 of inward spiritual discipline. It is vain to 
 attempt to guard against evil habits or thoughts 
 unless one is fully conscious that they are 
 evil, and that one is guilty of them. Now, a very 
 high office of worship is the act of secretly but 
 unreservedly confessing, at those times of com- 
 munion with GOD, every act or thought which 
 was wrong, and, indeed, to analize the state of our 
 moral character, to search our motives, and to ask 
 forgiveness from our heavenly Father, who is 
 merciful ; and to seek from Him renewal of His 
 Divine Grace, that we may not have to confess the 
 same sin twice. It is a poor thing to say once a 
 year, or even every day, " Pardon us, O GOD, for
 
 we have sinned," and to use vain and exag- 
 gerated language about the sins we fancy we have 
 committed, or we think it our duty to fancy. All 
 this is very common, but it is a very imperfect 
 way of making progress ! Be satisfied if you con- 
 fess one fault, but be perfectly sure what that is ! 
 Accuracy of thought and expression are insisted 
 upon in secular matters most wisely ; but, unfor- 
 tunately, they seldom are in this respect. Now, 
 this sort of confession is essential to a pure con- 
 science. Whether we confess a particular fault or 
 not that fault is well known to GOD, and has 
 probably been observed by our neighbours ; but 
 Religion demands the confession of it as a 
 
 guarantee that the person at fault shall know that 
 
 , 
 fault, in order to correct it. This is the 
 
 strongest possible reason why we should habituate 
 ourselves to commune with GOD, and that, as 
 frequently as possible, never less than twice a day. 
 King David worshipped GOD seven times a day : 
 and we read in the Book of Daniel, " And his win- 
 dows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, 
 he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and
 
 8 
 
 prayed and gave thanks before his GOD." 
 To worship GOD is to admire His attributes, 
 and to seek out those of them which it is possible 
 for us in some measure to assimilate. For this pur- 
 pose there must be perfect genuineness in our wor- 
 ship, and no sort of secret attempt or desire to 
 avoid uttering what is unpleasant because adverse 
 to our own conduct. The simple doctrine taught 
 by the Jewish Religion about Atonement is as 
 clear and simple as it is lovely and merciful : 
 " I will blot out thy transgressions for mine own 
 sake:" "If, with all your hearts, ye truly 
 seek me, ye shall ever surely find me, thus 
 saith our GOD." And, "If ye confess your sins, 
 though they be as scarlet, they shall be as white 
 as snow." Hence this act of confessing pro- 
 motes unsullied purity, and in that state only can 
 we perfectly appreciate the glory of GOD, and 
 adore Him. 
 
 Communion, of any sort, cannot be one-sided, 
 especially when it takes place between a human 
 being and the Deity, whose relative position is 
 analogous to that of parent and child. In re-
 
 9 
 
 spouse to our worship there issues from the Most 
 High, peace, love, intelligence, clearness of 
 thought, strength of mind, power of will, charity, 
 more faith, and more hope. Is it a small thing 
 to desire the possession of such virtues, knowing 
 that they are attainable ? And to seek to be in 
 such condition of nearness to all that is good and 
 great? It is scarcely possible to over-estimate 
 the marvellous and apparently superhuman effect 
 which a LIFE of perfect worship, that is to say, of 
 communion with GOD, exhibits. Some of us have 
 met with persons who lead a life such as this, and 
 when we come to know them intimately we are 
 struck with qualities which might seem to belong 
 only to a divine being, points of character which in- 
 dicate themselves in every transaction and in every 
 relation of life. They spring from some cause, 
 certainly independent of external influences and 
 secular education. We observe a person who is com- 
 paratively uneducated, but who possesses sound- 
 ness of judgment which some of the most learned 
 lack, a largeness of heart, a keen perception, a just 
 mind, and sympathy, powers which inspire con-
 
 10 
 
 fidence, and makfe one feel a wish to unbosom 
 oneself to him a person who can give the best 
 advice in vicissitude, who is gentle, tender, for- 
 bearing, utterly unselfish, who, in doing good, 
 makes the object of his kindness feel that the act 
 is no strain, but a pleasure, done quietly and 
 humbly. The great characters of the Bible and 
 of history were people of this description. And in 
 our own day, thank GOD, such persons are to be 
 found. Take the example of a very good woman : 
 what extraordinary self-negation is there, and a 
 living for others, love sunk in other love than 
 that of self, entirely free from every gross passion 
 and thought. What is the reason of this ? 
 From a variety of causes it happens in most 
 cases that women more fully practise the kind of 
 worship that is needful than is the case with men. 
 Let us conclude ! 1 have endeavoured to des- 
 cribe the nature of worship in its several acts, and 
 to point to those high ends to which all worship 
 should tend. We have dealt with that element 
 of worship called Confession, which purifies our 
 inner life. Then there is the act of homage,
 
 11 
 
 which is a recognition of divine life and sov- 
 ereignty, and an unqualified surrender to that 
 Power. Gratitude speaks thanksgiving and 
 praise, and thereby leads the mind to a calm 
 and increasing conception of the Deity. It 
 brings us to estimate such a passage in Isaiah as 
 this: "I am He, the Holy and Lofty One, who 
 inhabiteth eternity, and who dwelleth in the 
 heights, but with him also that is of a humble 
 and contrite spirit, to revive the spirit of the 
 meek." You will put a value on these words 
 of David: "They looked up unto Him, and 
 became enlightened and their faces were not 
 ashamed;" or, in the words of Isaiah in our 
 communion with GOD we may say, " Thou wilt 
 keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed 
 on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." 
 
 Obviously, the more we reflect about GOD, the 
 more our minds become penetrated with those 
 thoughts and feelings in connection with Him 
 that point to a higher life in this world and demon- 
 strate better paths of goodness. Prayer is usually 
 understood as the asking for our desires, which is
 
 12 
 
 in itself an act of submission. It is a dignifying 
 homage which bends before an ideal TRUTH, and 
 which bows down to the nobility of the highest 
 love I mean the LOVE of GOD. Mothers in 
 Israel ! teach your little ones to pray first of all 
 for faith, and afterwards, for more faith. Tha 
 highest spiritual nature will seek in prayer only 
 the highest spiritual gifts ; and to him, the efficacy 
 of prayer will be as true and as real as his own 
 existence. The less cultured soul will seek in 
 prayer material things ; and to him the efficacy of 
 prayer will be a dubious problem. 
 
 Oh, hallowed perfect GOD ! teach us to 
 pray ! Give us a heart to know and a mind to 
 comprehend THEE as far as Thy will permits us 
 to learn. Grant, LORD GOD of our fathers ! 
 complete harmony between our wills and Thine! 
 May we desire no other thing than that which 
 Thou orderest ! Oh ! bring us to Thine everlasting 
 kingdom, and may we taste of its profuse sweet- 
 ness on this earth in our fle.sh ! Send out Thy light 
 and Thy truth, and knit for ever every Hebrew 
 and Gentile soul to Thy glorious SELF. Oh, Thou
 
 13 
 
 from whom no secrets are hid 1\ try us and search 
 our hearts, and see if there b4 any wicked way 
 in us, and lead us in the way everlasting ; for it 
 is the way of truth and love only which are ever- 
 lasting; and all the corrupt ways of men are 
 perishable and only mortal. Preserve to us the 
 grand ancient FAITH which Thou didst reveal to 
 our fathers progenitors of our families, and which 
 has borne the test of more than four thousand 
 years to prove its vitality, and to show that we 
 ISRAEL are Thy WITNESSES! Shine forth in 
 the excellency of Thy supreme power, and make 
 every human being know that he is bound to 
 worship Thee ; that unto Thee every knee shall 
 bend, and every tongue swear. And Thou shalt 
 be acknowledged as the ONLY LORD, and Thy 
 name recognised as the only ONE ! Be Thou 
 
 / 
 
 for ever glorified amidst the praises of all Israel, 
 who shall be united and gathered together as one 
 man, the SERVANT of the LORD, to whom His 
 Arm was revealed, and who believed His report. 
 Amen. 
 
 THOMPSON, PRINTER, ASHFORD, KENT,