Praise and Worship

Our pastor has been preaching from Psalm 150 about praise and worship.  This post doesn’t really cover what he has been preaching but does comes from my mediating on his sermons and really thinking about applying his messages to my daily life.

What is worship?   Romans 12:1 tells us “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” 

I think this means that our lifestyle needs to match our words and our beliefs.  People should be able to watch us and know we are different.  They should see Christ in us – not only in our words but more importantly in our deeds.  (Notice I also didn’t say only in our deeds.  I think we need both.)

Luke 6:46 says “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? “

Verbally giving praise to God is a good thing.  I believe we should praise God but we’ve got to live it.  

Psalm 22:3 talks about God inhabiting the praises of the Israelites. I want to experience the presence of God. 

One of the big hurdles to the church today is that there are so many “Christians” who are not living their faith.  They say one thing and act another way . Their actions Monday – Saturday do not match their Sunday morning routine. In fact, many times it is only the hours spent in church that are different from the rest of their lives.

“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”  James 4:8-10

Praise can be a wonderful and beautiful thing but it must be combined with obedience and love for others.  Remember Corinthians says if we don’t love others then we are like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

So before we start praising the Lord with our words, let’s look and make sure we are praising him with our life.  I’m not implying that you have to live a perfect life in order to praise the Lord.  No one can accomplish that.  I am saying that our heart needs to be in the right place.  Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice to redeem us.  He deserves our love and devotion.  He deserves praise that comes from a heart that loves him and is committed to obeying him.

I think the church is bored.  It has heard the stories for a long time and it’s love for Christ has grown cold.  I do not see an excited passionate love between the church and Jesus.  The Bible refers to the church as the “bride” of Christ.  We are to be passionate about our faith.  Have you experienced the excitement that a new believer has?  Have you seen him hunger to know God?  That excitement and hunger is what I see missing in the church today.  We are all very passé about our faith.  It’s a ho hum relationship. 

Look at Isaiah 29:13. “The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.”

Lord, keep me from only giving you lip service.  Keep my heart burning to know you more. As I spend time with You, let Your love overflow from my lips.  Let your praise come forth from a heart that yearns to love you and serve you.