Psalm 84:1-2; 10: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord…For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
A few weeks ago the Kingdom Kids sang in our Sunday morning service. If you were there you heard Susan Spaulding tell us that they were working on learning hymns and songs that come directly from Scripture. That Sunday they sang directly from Psalm 84 (above).
If you have ever walked down the children’s or preschool hallways, you have seen a timeline of The Gospel Project, the curriculum our church uses for our Sunday morning kids Connect Groups. We have been walking through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. We spent some time in the Psalms a while back helping the kids to understand the significance of the book.
One of my favorite things to do is to find verses in the Psalms that have been turned into worship songs. I love worship music (which is a good thing since my husband is the Worship Pastor!). I love thinking about these Psalms and their authors who spent countless hours writing out their awe, gratitude, and praise to God.
When you take the time to look into the words and meanings of these verses, you find raw emotion. Many of the Psalms are words of praise directly to God about his attributes and the feelings they draw out of the writers. Many of them are words of gratitude and reverence—adoration and honor to a God who alone is Creator and Ruler of all things.
But then there are also the Psalms that cry out to God for mercy and refuge. Many of the early Psalms were written by King David while he was fleeing from Saul and living as a refugee in caves and countries that were not his home. His fears, frustrations, and anger are poured out to God in such a real way.
Psalm 6:3 “My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long?”
Psalm 13:1 “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?”
David struggled with his anger towards God and was not at all afraid to let him know. I encourage you to find a chronological Bible and read through the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel. It is interesting to see what was going on in David’s life during the times many of those Psalms were written.
And yet so often we think we need to come to church to engage in worship. But when you look at the life of David, most of his worship was spent alone in a cave or fleeing from Saul on the side of a mountain. Worship is not an activity dedicated or restricted to the church building alone. Worship is a feeling and expression that we are to engage in based on our adoration towards God and who he is. God is omniscient and omnipotent. We read in Psalm 139:7 there is no where we can flee from his presence. There is not a place on earth, in heaven above or Sheol below, that God will not be. Why do we limit our worship to a specific location? Why do we wait to be led into worship on Sunday morning?
Spending time with God, his creation and his Word, should elicit a response of worship. God exists to be worshiped. Luke 19:40 tells us that if we do not worship God, the rocks will cry out. We were created to worship. It is our honor and privilege to worship the God of Heaven and Earth. If we do not worship him, then we will find something else to worship and that would be wrong. That would be sin. We need to be intentional about worshiping God alone.
This week I pray that you will be able to worship the Lord in your everyday activities. I pray that you will be able to see God for who he is and what he has done and be able to have gratitude in your heart towards Him. I pray that your knowledge of him and experiences this week will produce a response of worship for Him. This week I pray that God will be glorified in your life and actions.
Allow yourself to be drawn to him and take the time to worship him for who he is and what he has done! Then enjoy it! Enjoy listening to music. Enjoy reading His word. Enjoy talking about him and spending time with him. Then when you come Sunday morning, be ready to worship together with like-minded believers who have also prepared their hearts and minds for this specific purpose.