The Heart Of Worship

Meditations on the Psalms

August 5, 2022

The Heart Of Worship

Who may climb the mountain of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy place?

Psalm 24:3

What does worship mean to you? Generally, people tend to think of worship as an expression of adoration, praise and love to God. Certainly, such expressions are included within worship, but does that understanding truly get to the heart of worship? Perhaps we should first ask, why do we worship; what is the purpose, or goal, of worship?

Biblical worship, especially the worship described in the Book of Psalms, has but one purpose: to enter into the presence of God. When we experience the presence of God, our lives are healed and made whole, and we experience the transformation the Apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians 3. (See my meditation on Psalm 23, August 4.)  Psalm 24 helps us understand how we may enter into the presence of God.

Psalm 24 begins with a Call to Worship, an Affirmation of Faith. The psalmist then renews his understanding of the quality of a life that is in right-standing with God. These characteristics are an invitation for confession of sin. Only then does the psalmist welcome God’s glory to encompass him (Psalm 24:7-10).

As we think about the steps the psalmist took to experience God’s glory, let’s return to the first question: what is worship? When the Bible describes worship, the people are bowing down; they are kneeling, in reverence and submission to God.

“Come, let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God.

We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care.”

Psalm 95:6-7

My Takeaway: In our current culture, churches have become very casual and hardly seem to worship God with reverence and awe when gathering for Sunday morning services. But we can join with the psalmist. We can go to church this week with a longing to be in the presence of God, submitted to God’s righteous reign in our lives. 

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.