Personal Note: There are many aspects to worship, this is only one of the aspects I was considering this morning. Worship can mean many things to different people, I am only stretching it a bit to consider how God may view worship from His perspective.
Strongs Greek Lexicon describes worship like this:
1) to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence
2) among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence
3) in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication
a) used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank
1) to the Jewish high priests
2) to God
3) to Christ
4) to heavenly beings
Praise is a starting point where we express our affection to God. Praise is described in the book of Psalms almost like a vehicle which can carry us into the very courts of our King. But, it is in our brokenness through worship that God opens us up to the vastness of His merciful character to us. It is the pouring out of our lives that we may be re-filled with His presence.
Psalm 100:1-5 (NASB)
1 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
3 Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.
Entering into “gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise”, is using our minds (intellect) to express our innermost thoughts and desires to our King. Praise is a place where we have passed thru the gates of the outer court and entered into the inner court. This is where we begin worshipping and await being drawn (or called) into the Kings presence.
His presence is where we are made aware of His overwhelming beauty (glory). Here the mind (or intellect) is helpful, but not required. Worship is a place where we are caught by the awe and power of God and are brought to the awareness of who God is, and who we are.
Romans 8:26-27 (ERV)
26 Also, the Spirit helps us. We are very weak, but the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We don’t know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself speaks to God for us. He begs God for us, speaking to him with feelings too deep for words. 27 God already knows our deepest thoughts. And he understands what the Spirit is saying, because the Spirit speaks for his people in the way that agrees with what God wants.
Here is a quote from Charles Spurgeon:
If your heart is cold, do not wait until your heart warms. Pray your soul into heat with the help of the ever-blessed Holy Spirit, who helps in our weakness, who makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered.
“If on my face, for thy dear name,
Shame and reproach shall be;
I’ll hail reproach, and welcome shame,
If thou’lt remember me.”
Praise can accompany worship, but is only the outer shell of what truly lies within worship. Words alone cannot capture the depth of devotion and reverence that the human spirit longs to express in worship. Worship is being connected to God in a most intimate way. It is much like entering into the Holy of Holies (or the Most Holy Place). This is the place where God dwells.
Hebrews 10:19-23 (NCV)
19 So, brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place without fear because of the blood of Jesus’ death. 20 We can enter through a new and living way that Jesus opened for us. It leads through the curtain—Christ’s body. 21 And since we have a great priest over God’s house, 22 let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold firmly to the hope that we have confessed, because we can trust God to do what he promised. 24 Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds. 25 You should not stay away from the church meetings, as some are doing, but you should meet together and encourage each other. Do this even more as you see the day coming.
God always inspires worship, it is true to God’s nature to do so. True worship of God is the stirring within the soul that desires to be closer to our creator. This desire is God drawing us unto Himself in a deeply personal way, this drawing (or wooing) is different for each person as God meets us where we are at in life. There is no expectation placed upon us, yet He waits patiently for us to respond, even if it takes a lifetime. God reaches out this way that He may see the desire that He placed within us develop into a passion that drives us to search Him out, that way He gets the credit and He gets the glory.
Romans 7:18 (ESV)
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
Herein lies the paradox of worship, and the Christian life in general. We were created to worship our God in our bodies, but we were not given the ability to do it the way that pleases Him. We have to depend upon God for the stirrings and the desire to enter into the worship in a way that truly pleases Him. Worship comes from Him and goes back to Him, that gives Him glory.
As an analogy, God is like a battery and we are like a battery operated electric motor that was designed to do work. If the motor is not connected to the battery, it cannot function as designed. No matter how much attempt is made to operate the motor apart from the battery, it can be yelled at, shamed, cajoled, threatened, and abused, even with all of this type of energy expended the motor will not turn because the design specifications are not being followed. However, once connected to the positive side of the battery, as the charge (current) path flows through the connected motor it finds a path or connection back to the source (negative side of the battery) for the motor to operate (work) as designed. This way the connected motor can do the work it was designed to do because it is now fully connected to the battery.
It is the same way with us, when God stirs us by the Holy Spirit we are given the opportunity to respond and obey. We also have work that we were destined to accomplish, if we are connected to the source we can receive the blueprint detailing that work over time, and we can receive the power to accomplish the work as long as the 'power' flows through us and back to Him who gave it in the first place. Just as the motor cannot control the energy that drives it, no more can we control God who gives us His strength and power to serve and worship Him.
We are nothing more than flesh, weak and frail, that is how God made us. He made us weak so that we would trust Him in our weakness and be made strong in His strength.
↓Click Here to listen to the song
Sweetly Broken
Words & Music by: Jeremy Riddle
To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of it's suffering I do drink
Of it's work I do sing
For on it my Savior, both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just
Chorus:
At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I'm sweetly broken, wholly surrendered
What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified
You've called me out of death
You've called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I'm reconciled
In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness
Copyright 2005 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing
The music above is copyrighted by the respective artists, and is demonstrated here for educational purposes only.
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