Psalm 95:6
Dive Deeper
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!”
Psalm 95:6
Behind the Scenes
Christmas week – representing the birth of our Lord and Savior. He is the King of kings who came to take away the sins of the world. Praise God! Praise and worship Him who reconciled us to the God of the universe!
But what is worship? Why and how should we worship? Let’s take a look back at the beginning of this Psalm. “Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In His hands are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!”, Psalm 95:1-6
We see from this passage how: 1. We are to come together to worship. Notice how this starts out with “Let US…” While it’s possible to worship God alone, we are also called to worship Him corporately: 2. Worship involves sound – singing, joyful noise, speaking. Worship is to be an outward expression of our adoration of our Savior: 3. We are to come to Him worshiping with thanksgiving.
And why do we worship Him? Because He is the Maker of heaven and earth. He formed the dry lands, and the seas are His as well. He is Creator God and everything, everything exists because of Him. And if that wasn’t enough – which it should be – He calls us His sons and daughters. He made a way for us to be with Him for eternity. He is the Rock of our salvation! And finally, because of His salvation, we will have ever increasing joy forevermore in heaven with Him!
Make it Real
I think of our world today and my method of worship. Sure, I love a good worship song, and I will throw my hands up and make a joyful noise (you can’t really call what I do singing). But is that real worship? Is my heart behind it and am I really in the moment of thanksgiving for the unfathomable gift that He has given me? I mean honestly, I would probably have more enthusiasm if I saw Peyton Manning or Will Smith walking down the street. Which is so incredibly sad because they too are simply His creation, not Creator!
Imagine if we all approached worship of our Living God with the same enthusiasm as we would a celebrity. I want to be one who screams and shouts when another person accepts His gift. I want to high five and do a jig when I see God at work. And He is ALWAYS at work – so there would be a lot of “jigging” going on.
On the flip side, we can also worship when we are in the middle of struggle and tragedy. I’ve recently seen two examples of true, authentic, heartfelt worship. The first is a man that suffered the loss of his home in the recent tornados that tore through several states. His house was basically destroyed, but left standing, intact, in a pool of water was his grand piano. While he and his sister went through their home to see what they could salvage, the man sat down at that grand piano and began playing a Hymn. A song of thanksgiving to His God and Savior. That is true worship! In the midst of tremendous loss, he worshiped.
The other is a lot closer to home. I have friends who have struggled with infertility for a very long time. They will be such great parents, and my heart breaks for them. After a recent worship night at ACF, she posted this, “The night started off in anger – making sure God heard my grievances – yet ended in a posture of surrender. While I was still hurting, my anger gave way to sadness. With tears streaming down, I cried out, ‘Father, this is all I have – I hope you can accept it.’ Then in humility with open hands, I began singing with the crowd.”
This is true worship, in the highest highs and the lowest lows, we look to our Savior surrounded by other believers, and sing to Him. We make a joyful noise with thanksgiving in the middle of our deepest grief.
Do you struggle to worship? What step can you take to move toward more authentic worship?
Colleen McGeorge
ACF Devo Team
End in Prayer
Father God, I come before you humbled and thankful. You have given EVERYTHING so that we can be with you in eternity, experience increasing joy forevermore. God help us to comprehend the lengths to which You have gone to make us Yours. We love You Lord and thank You for all that You are! In the mighty and powerful name of your son, Jesus! Amen!!