Worship

"David appointed the following Levites to lead the people in worship before the ark of the Lord by asking for his blessings and giving thanks and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel."  - I Chronicles 16

Walking into the house, I noticed a wonderful smell coming from the oven. Chocolate chip cookies. Warm and gooey. Right out of the oven. I couldn't wait to dig in, so I did! They were as good as they looked and smelled. They were a product of grandma and granddaughter's stellar efforts. All the necessary ingredients were all over the counter, not to mention my granddaughter's clothes, face, hair and hands. They were properly mixed with exactly the right quantities and baked just the perfect amount of time. A masterpiece of culinary delight!!   

As David took his rightful place as king, his heart belonged to God. He knew that everything that he had received, the victories, the strength, the wisdom and the support of the people had all come from God. He wanted to and did lead the charge when it came to worship of God. He had the Levites bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem with great celebration. They sang. They danced. They shouted. David even wrote a song for the occasion. In it, he included examples of some of the key ingredients of worship: asking, thanksgiving, and praise.  
 
These ingredients create a pleasing aroma in the throne room of God. To ask of God acknowledges that He is God and we are not. All good things come from him. To thank him is to express appreciation for those things he has given. To praise him is to proclaim his loving, gracious and generous character. As you examine your worship these days, do you see all of these ingredients? Are they in proper balance? Let's ask God to enable us to worship him properly. Let's thank him when he does. Let's praise him for his goodness in making worship possible!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tested

"He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do." John 6:1-13 Test day. I remember all too well the feelings of discomfort connected to that expression from my school days. I was so thankful the last time I had to take one. Tests felt so much like a cruel game of, "Guess What I'm Thinking?" with the author of the test. During one particularly grueling test, I noticed one of my classmates cheating like there was no tomorrow. Predictably, he aced it and I let's just say, didn't. It occurred to me later that I was actually being tested in two different ways that day. By God's grace alone, I passed them both. Philip was in the hot seat that day. Jesus, out of the twelve disciples, decided to single him out for testing. From all appearances, there was a massive resource shortage. Five thousand men plus women and children all hungry up against whatever money Judas had in the money bag. Philip was apparently incredulous as he emphaticall
Read more

Nothing Left

"'What do you mean what's the matter?' Micah replied. 'You've taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!" Judges 17, 18 Unaware of some purchases that my wife had made earlier in the day, I didn't even hesitate to use my debit card at the checkout line. However, our bank was fully aware of all those purchases as well as the one I was attempting to make at the present moment. Clearly, the math didn't add up. Something from nothing is something less than nothing and that, as it turns, is frowned upon by our aforementioned bank. In short, the bank told the merchant there was nothing left and the merchant told me, "Declined." Micah was one panicked individual. His personal little self-directed and self-centered religion was coming apart at the seams. He had idols. He had priests. He had a shrine and even a sacred ephod (a priestly garment). All this, he thought, secured the LORD's blessing. When the warri
Read more

Who is Jesus?

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15, 16 NIV) What are your thoughts about Jesus? Every major religion on earth has an opinion on who he was. Mostly they say that he was a good man, a powerful teacher, and a peacemaker. All of that is true. But what about him being the Son of God? Peter, after being with Jesus non-stop for 4 years was confident of his identity. He was assured that Jesus was God in the flesh, the Messiah that was to come. You essentially have three options when it comes to what you believe about Jesus: 1) He was a Liar 2) He was a Lunatic (out of his mind) 3) Or that He was Lord If he was, and is, Lord, then he deserves our worship and our entire lives. If Jesus is Lord, it is true that we have access to God by His sacrifice on the cross. Join us Friday night at 7, as we reflect on Jesus going to the cross for the sins of the entire world (Good Frida
Read more