Worship devotions: What is Worship? - Psalm 95:6-7

Psalm 95:6-7                        Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.

            Humility is never easy for me. Just like most stubborn Scots, I want to be fiercely independent and completely free, individually shaped and personally motivated by my own choices. I like to think that what I say or do is important, insightful, and meaningful. I want my life to have a purpose, so long as I can mold it into whatever I want it to be. I desire to be a self-made person, which frequently leads to pride and vanity, causing me to get too big for my boots or become swollen-headed. The high horse I am riding or the pedestal I have made for myself begins to falter, and I am left sprawling on the proverbial floor, dispatched from the lofty heights I have proudly climbed. However, I also get the feeling that those around me know of that experience, too.

            Did you know that worship is meant to be an act of humility? Many folks misguidedly believe that worship services are meant to fill them, bolster them, support them, and uplift them. They feel that their time is precious, so worship should have a positive purpose that cheerfully changes them and really inspires them. Nothing could be further from the biblical truth. Worship, true and honest worship, is meant to humble us in the awesome presence of God. Even the old Hebrew words for worship, as in today’s psalm, literally mean to lie down prostrated, face first to the ground, as an humble act of faith before our Holy, Almighty, and Majestic God!

            Some congregations go halfway on this by kneeling during their worship services, but most Christian folks sit in their church pews and sadly sometimes get distracted by their mobile phones or devices which command more of their attention. People say they are ‘bored’ of worship, but what is really happening is that they are spiritually disconnected to God and don’t really understand that we bring worship to God. He is the audience, we are merely meant to be His humble servants.

            So, here’s a challenge for all of us: next Sunday morning, let’s all prepare ourselves to humbly worship God at church. Let’s also remember that the service is not about us in any shape or fashion – it’s all about serving God (why do you think it’s called a worship service, and not a worship experience?). Perhaps if we re-learn to be humble in worship, we will feel closer to God by the time the Benediction is given. J

Questions for personal reflection

What do I bring to God in worship? How does worship help me to serve Him humbly and faithfully?

Prayer:          Lord God, we want to worship You truly, but sometimes we let our pride or personalities get in the way. Help us to become aware of the humble nature of real worship, where You are at the center of its purpose, and that we are merely Your servants. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions about today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s attached image is one of John’s latest Celtic Christian drawings. It’s called “Celtic Spirit.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on this link: Spirit.

The Lord is not OK with it, Fred

Fred Thompson's remarks yesterday about him being OK with the Lord and the Lord is OK with him, shows either disrespect to God or ignorance about the Christian faith.

Matthew 26:40 Then Jesus returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter.

Our congregation, like any other in existence, has more church members than weekly worship attenders. Over any given 13 week period, I think we have at least sixty percent of our members and their families attend at least one Sunday. It’s really sad, but it is a trend that is happening around the nation. People are turning worship into an extra-curriculum exercise or leisure pursuit. They won’t dare miss an episode of one of their favorite TV shows, but worshiping God is something that they can give and take as they please.

I’ve tried hard to impress upon people how important worshiping God actually is, but to no avail. In our free-spirited society, even church members take God for granted and only use Him in emergencies. They don’t believe that they’re harming themselves or that God cares about something as unimportant as going to church on Sunday. I don’t know where they’ve gotten that idea; it’s certainly not in the Bible. Jesus and his disciples gathered at the synagogue every Sabbath, and even after His glorious Resurrection and Ascension, Christ’s apostles gathered at the temple for weekly worship. Anyone who thinks that we can glibly turn up when we feel like it and expect God to be pleased, is being careless with their faith. Even Fred Thompson, one of the Republican candidates for President, stated yesterday that he was the religious conservative’s choice…and then went on to say that he didn’t go to church! Who’s he kidding?

To truly worship God means to turn up when we don’t feel like it. When we treat worship as a respectful obligation to God, just as Jesus did, then we can truly begin to call ourselves Christians. Otherwise, we’re just dabbling in the faith and have no real relationship with God at all.

To highly independent people, this will read like religiosity, forcing them to submit their lives to God’s rules instead of their own. And they’re absolutely right, because the word “worship” in the Bible means to bow down painfully before God in a position that is totally uncomfortable. In other words, it’s a humiliating experience when we realize that we are made for God’s commands, and are not creatures of our own comfort.

It’s time that the Church stopped softening the message to appease the feelings of those who take God for granted. Jesus wouldn’t have put up with any of that empty spiritual nonsense, so why should we?

In the midst of all our busy weekly lives, can’t we at least keep watch with Christ for just one hour?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, shake us and move us, challenge us and change us. We falsely think that You fully accept our ideas and opinions about worship. We fool ourselves into believing that we’re OK with You and You’re OK with us. Keep us from deluding our hearts and deceiving our minds. Get us back into church on a regular basis to worship and glorify You, especially on those Sundays when we’re too busy or don’t feel like it. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.