Heartfelt Corporate Worship Produces Genuine Societal Change

by on September 30, 2026 | Comment

Introduction

People are perverted, and Christians are people too. Hopefully that grabs your attention. By perverted, I mean its most basic definition of “twisted, distorted, warped.” One thing that “perverted Christians” have warped is discerning how societal change comes about.

A Psalm of Victory and Praise

The context of Psalm 149 is the Lord delivering a mighty victory for Israel. This military triumph of God’s old covenant people occasioned a special call to corporate worship. Good news of victory prompted praise. Jesus, the true divine warrior-king, has brought to us an even greater victory that calls us to gather weekly as a corporate body to worship him.

Every psalm finds its fulfillment in Christ and the new covenant of grace, but all are first applied to the old covenant era.1 In the old covenant of grace, Israel was a theocracy but no more in the new covenant epoch; yet the church is the new Israel of God (Gal 3:27–29; 6:16; 1 Pet 2:9–10). There is continuity and discontinuity. My thesis is this: The good news of Yahweh’s victory for his people in every era produces heartfelt worship of God, and heartfelt corporate worship produces genuine societal change. The order is crucial.

Psalm 149:1–3 calls God’s people to praise Yahweh in corporate worship.2 Yahweh is our covenant keeper, creator, father, and king. But the true basis of worship is his covenant grace and favor on undeserving sinners (v. 4). Yahweh’s deliverance of his old covenant people by defeating their enemies points to an even greater deliverance for all his elect through Jesus Christ’s triumph in the resurrection.

In verse 4, “for” is a Hebrew word that describes the basis for our praise of God. Verse 4 points to the power and motivation for heartfelt worship: Yahweh bestowed gracious salvation on his people. Why and how can we offer heartfelt worship of God? Verse 4 answers that it is because he takes pleasure in his people and has brought salvation to the humble. “Takes pleasure” is from a Hebrew word used to describe gracious favor and blessing to undeserving people (Isa 61:2; Luke 4:18–19). Verses 1–4 tell us that it is genuine knowledge and belief in Yahweh’s salvation that fuels authentic worship of God. This principle is true today.

Verses 1–4 are not merely describing a worship posture in all of life (that is addressed in verses 5–9), but rather the corporate worship of the assembled people of God. It is heartfelt corporate worship, fueled and empowered by saving faith in Yahweh’s salvation, that produces what verses 5–9 describe.

This heartfelt worship of God produces the fruit of societal change. Fruit can be produced only because of the root. Verses 5–9 connect with verses 1–4, commanding true worshipers to “exult in glory” whether they are sleeping or executing justice. Genuine worship of God overflows into societal change.

For old covenant Israel, a theocracy, there was an appropriate use of the sword (vv. 6–9), but it was rightly wielded only when fueled by right worship. Today, the sword is rightly wielded when the right worship of God overflows into the righteous living of his people in society, spreading the gospel, applying biblical ethics in their spheres of life, and promoting a second use of the law in society. This will never be done properly if there is not genuine heartfelt worship of God first. Wrong worship of God, whether in form or in the right form but without the heart (i.e., hypocrisy), always promotes a wrong wielding of the sword. It was true then and true today. A society cannot rightly implement Christian values when Christian worship is perverted, whether in form or in the heart.

To summarize: Yahweh, who brought salvation to His people by triumphing over their enemies, now calls his people to gather for corporate worship of him due to his gracious favor toward them, which gives fruit to societal change. Belief in Yahweh’s salvation must come first.

Societal change cannot produce heartfelt worship; only saving faith in the gospel can do that. Societal change might provide a climate for corporate worship to be more accessible. This is very important! But societal change cannot change the heart; only saving faith in the gospel can do that. For old covenant Israel and new covenant Israel, societal change comes only because of faith in the gospel resulting in genuine heartfelt worship. To be sure, the true worship of God will result in societal change at some level—hopefully, so much so that wider society will be transformed. We do want biblical ethics to affect all of life. We do want this country to embrace Christianity. We do want godly rulers, laws, and policies— but only in the right way, following God’s pattern and process of change.

Objections

Should we not care about societal change and care only about worship? This is a straw man objection. True, there can be some who overly separate the kingdom of God from the world so that they care nothing for the world. We rebuke that view! We do care about societal change, but there can be no societal change by mere law. This is as true with Reformed theology as any other theory. Law alone, while having a proper use in society, cannot change a heart. For the unbeliever, it can expose sin and restrain further corruption, but it cannot change the heart. Only the gospel can change the heart which produces new obedience to God’s law. We do care about societal change, but we want it to be genuine change. This genuine change can only happen when God regenerates individuals, producing heartfelt worship of God in the corporate assembly, which then overflows into a desire to live all of life for all of God. The result will be genuine regard for God’s law in individuals and society.

Does societal change not enable us to worship God? It depends on what you mean by “enable.” Can it enable access to corporate worship and less fear of government persecution? Yes! Can it enable genuine heart change and conversions? No! Only the Spirit of God can regenerate dead hearts. Societal change might result in better manners, healthier culture, and more justice, but unless people are born again, society is merely filled with “splendid sins.” There might be more respect for Christianity, rejection of cults, and embrace of biblical ethics, but unless a person is born again, there is no true heartfelt worship of God.

If only God can bring this heartfelt worship, are we just to sit back and do nothing? This is a false deduction fueled by hyper-Calvinist thinking. God ministers to people through people by his means of grace. Because God is sovereign, we must go into all the world spreading the gospel, promoting biblical ethics, giving apologetic answers, producing gospel resources, showing hospitality, promoting biblical justice rather than social justice, and doing what we can to protect the church’s rights in society. But unless God causes us to be born again, there is no heartfelt corporate worship and, therefore, no societal change. God changes hearts by causing people to be born again as they hear of His victory in Christ’s virgin birth, perfect life, atoning death, bodily resurrection, glorious ascension into Heaven, outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and his coming again.

What about God’s common grace? Common grace might be the most misunderstood doctrine today. Common grace is “common” as opposed to “special”. Common means it is common to all people—believers and unbelievers. The sun’s rising and setting, plants bearing fruit, gravity holding us down—these things are common to all. They are gracious because, due to our sin, none of us deserves this providence. Part of God’s common grace is keeping us from being utterly depraved. We are totally depraved but not utterly depraved—we are not as bad as we could be. People can do “good” things, but none of them merit salvation. Earthly government is a blessing of God’s common grace. We should promote government that rules in consideration of our creator and his ethics. Biblical ethics are ethics for everyone because there is only one God. We need God’s common grace, but common grace doesn’t change hearts.

We experience God’s common grace through an orderly society, but we experience his temporal wrath when he hands us over to hypocritical worship—as seen in twentieth-century America, where Protestant churches liberalized despite societal stability. Again, the need for today is not merely societal change but heartfelt worship produced by saving faith in the gospel of grace. This brings genuine societal change.

Conclusion

Forcing Christianity and Christian values on society by law and man’s efforts will never change hearts. Yes, we need a second use of the law, but only the gospel can transform hearts. If we want genuine societal change, we need to heed Psalm 149. When we seek to worship God in proper form and spirit, this heartfelt, biblical corporate worship will overflow with blessings for God’s people, who will live all of life for God, implementing his law in all spheres while knowing that only the power of the gospel and the regenerative power of the Spirit can produce true worshipers.

Notes

  1. To be sure, we believe in the one covenant of grace that was “differently administered in the time of the law, and in the time of the gospel; under the law, it was administered in promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all foresignifying Christ to come; which were, for that time, sufficient and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins, and eternal salvation; and is called the old testament. Under the gospel, when Christ, the substance, was exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper: which, though fewer in number, and administered with more simplicity, and less outward glory, yet, in them, it is held forth in more fullness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy, to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles; and is called the new testament. There are not two covenants of grace, differing in substance, but one and the same, under various dispensations” (Westminster Confession of Faith, 7.5–6).
  2. “For though he proceeds to exhort the Lord’s people to sing God’s praises together, he hints along with this that the Church would coalesce again into one body, so as to celebrate God’s praises in the solemn assembly.” John Calvin, vol. 5 of Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Logos Bible Software.

©Wilson Van Hooser. All Rights Reserved.

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    Post authored by:

  • Wilson Van Hooser
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    Wilson is married to Grace and they have three children. He grew up in Montgomery, Alabama where he was baptized as a child of the covenant in the PCA. After graduating from Tulane University, he went on to play professional football in 2014 for the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, and Boston Brawlers (FXFL). He attended Reformed Theological Seminary where he graduated with an MDiv. From 2021-2023, he was the Campus Minister for Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at Oklahoma State. He is currently the Senior Pastor at Grace Presbyterian Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

    More by Wilson Van Hooser ›

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