You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:5,6 ESV

For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Exodus 34:14

Years later, I can still hear it. It is the click of the drumsticks as they initiated the tempo of the song and the anticipation of the crowd in attendance on the recording. The guitar and the cymbals came in gently with a melodic tune, and if you recognized the song, you knew what followed next. He is jealous for me. I remember singing that song dozens of times, getting lost in the experience and the words of it all even as a worship leader. It was a personal favorite. Little did I know that something was indeed lost on me, and that was the very first verse let alone most of the song. I sang it with passion and ignorance.

Few things breed contention more quickly than touching a beloved worship song that is a personal favorite. If I could be brutally honest, some of these songs we so desperately crave are our “sacred cows”, and I would submit to you that much of the current praise and worship music being pumped out is indeed praising and worshiping someone, but it is not God. We must come to the sobering truth that much has become more experiential and less reverential. There are lyrics that are moving further away from sound Biblical truth. We have place ourselves at the center while God pines over us, and we have no understanding of the jealousy of God. He is not jealous for us like we perceive. He is not our languishing boyfriend in desperate need of us. He is God Almighty. He is holy.

The first passage in Scripture to mention the word jealous is found in Exodus 20:5, and it is while God is delivering the ten commandments to Moses. It is divine instruction for the people in how they are to conduct themselves according to God. According to The Complete Word Study Dictionary, the Hebrew word here for jealous is “used to describe the character of the Lord. It is always used to describe God’s attitude toward the worship of false gods, which arouses His jealousy and anger in judgment against idol worshipers.” We come to find out in Exodus 34:14 that His name is Jealous. He detests worship directed to anything or anyone else other than to Him because worship belongs to God alone.

When it comes to idolatry, God is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24). This accompanies His jealousy. Continuously throughout Scripture, we find that God is stirred to jealousy for His name and for His people who are His own possession. This is not exclusive to the Old Testament just as the God of the Old Testament is not exclusive to the Old Testament. He is the same God in the New Testament who detests idolatry. Even Paul warned the church at Corinth against idolatry and provoking the Lord to jealousy (1 Corinthians 10:22).

God is jealous for us in the sense that we belong to Him and we live in the truth that we have been bought with a price and we are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We are His own possession. He is jealous for His name to be glorified in those who belong to Him, and here is where I have genuine concern for those who gravitate to this aspect of worship. There is a poor understanding of the Jealous God. We envision Jesus Christ as our significant other who is enamored with us when we are to adore Him and to reverence Him as the King of Kings and the One who will judge the living and the dead. Yes, He is the Lamb, but let us not forget that He is also the Lion.

Yes, God does love those who belong to Him with an everlasting love and yet, we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Idolatry is still a problem today, and we have become the idol unintentionally. We have become an altar unto ourselves without realizing it. There is some beautifully composed music out there that is pleasing to the ears, but it is man centered, not Christ centered. This was personally convicting when I began to pay attention to what I was singing and realizing that much of it was about me with a peppering of God. Much of it was based on how the song made me feel and lifted me up rather than how it exalted the Lord. It was not intentional. I sincerely love the Lord, but we can be sincerely wrong.

I encourage you to pay attention to what you are singing to God. If the song is heavy on self but light on God, then we are offering worship and praise that provokes the jealousy of God. We are lifting up an idol. Reject the desire to think more highly of yourself than you ought. We are nothing without Him. May we return to sound Biblical praise and worship that is pleasing to the Lord, expressing pure adoration and love for the Savior who is worthy of all blessing, honor, and glory.