Worship!
The church that we attend has a fantastic worship band. In fact, it's a very well-known worship band, having sold records across the planet. When I first started attending the church, it took some time for me to get used to a live band versus the traditional chorus. I have since grown to appreciate the concert-style experience where one can feel the music pass through the body as the lights interplay with the music to create a fully immersive experience.
A few Sundays ago, as we worshipped, I found myself marveling at the music. I watched in appreciation of the lead singer’s gospel flare, I scrutinized the guitarist's chord progression awaiting the next little riff with hopes of incorporating it into my musical arsenal, and as I scanned the congregation, I felt a deep connection with the rest of the congregation as they lifted there hands in praise.
However, later that evening, as I thought back on the whole experience, I came to another realization, the reality that through the entire experience, my heart and mind were so focused on the music and the ambiance, and though I felt connected with the congregation, I forgot the one whom we were there to worship, God. Though I felt connected to the community, I had not connected in any real, meaningful way with the Lord.
Today's image of worship is a congregation standing, waving hands, swaying, and following the choir or band. Though this is okay, and believe me, as I stated above, I love the music, the coordination of sounds from instruments and voices, the display of talent, and the song selection that sets the mood, these are all wonderful and may lead to worship, but they are not worship. Worship is more than a physical or outward manifestation. Let me be clear; I am not discouraging the actions we have come to associate with worship; I am simply seeking to make a distinction between what is seen outwardly and asking that you consider, as I am, what may or may not be happening inside of us, in our hearts, souls, and minds. This has led me to ask the following questions.
What is worship? And How should we worship?
What distinguishes worship from other activities, such as serving in the church or in the community, dedicating time each day to study the bible, or even listening to and singing praise songs? While all of these activities might lead to worship, they are not, in themselves, worship. In Psalm 95:6, the psalmist writes:
6. Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
In this verse, the Hebrew word for worship, “Kara,” means to bow down, crouch, tilt or lean, sink down to one’s knees, or kneel down to rest or kneel in reverence. It's the position one would take in the act of drinking water, which, in those days, often required one to lower oneself close to the ground to get access to the water and its life-sustaining qualities. We are told to bow before the Lord, our Maker. In the words of the late evangelist, writer, and pastor. R.A. Torrey, “To worship God is to bow before God in adoring contemplation of Himself.”
So how should we worship? In John 4:23-24 Jesus tells us:
23 But a time is coming, and even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24
We are called to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Worship by the spirit requires the assistance of the Holy Spirit. It involves humble submission to God’s will and not our own desires or (the desires of the flesh). It means dedicating our whole hearts and minds to the Lord and, in truth, recognizing that we are utterly helpless without the saving grace and the enduring love and mercy of an awesome and worthy God. Deuteronomy 6:5-6 states:
5“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” 6. These words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.”
Worshipping God fully is part of living the life we were called to live and commanded to live. In fact, it is the life that we were created to live. It is prizing God above all other things.
What is the result of worship?
Remember that image of bowing down to drink the water? I want you to imagine yourself in the 23rd Psalm. You are by the still water. Slowly dip your hand into the water, raise it to your mouth, and take a drink. Refreshing, isn't it? In John 4:13-14, Jesus tells us:
“13. Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14. but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”.
Worshiping the Lord in spirit and truth not only places God in His rightful place of highest priority in our lives but also gives us access to that living water that Jesus described. It connects us directly to the one who sustains all things and all life.
This Sunday, as you enter your church or wherever it is that you decide to worship the Lord, I encourage you to take a moment to pray for the Holy Spirit to settle your mind and prepare your heart to dedicate your whole self in contemplation and adoration of the Lord for His saving grace and His enduring love, and mercy. He is an awesome God and is worthy of all praise.
Yours in Christ,
