Here I Am to Worship

February 15, 2016

Here I Am to Worship

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

    The world and all its people belong to him.

Psalm 24:1

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: “And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him” (2 Corinthians 3:16-18 MSG). Psalm 24 helps us understand how we may enter into the transforming presence of God.

Before we look at the steps the psalmist took to experience God’s glory, we need to 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). To our great shame, far too often, the church is very casual and hardly submissive when gathering for Sunday morning worship services. Take a few minutes and ponder what it would be like if the church came together, and with hearts united with a longing to be in the presence of God, submitted to God’s righteous reign in our lives. 

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.

Remember, you don’t have to wait until Sunday to worship God. Carve out your own time and space, where fully uninhibited you can “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There (you) will receive his mercy, and (you) will find grace to help (you) when (you) need it most” (Hebrews 4:16).

Sē’lah

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(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. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.