Worship - Part 2

So -- picking up from yesterday's post... you might be thinking "worship just isn't my thing." Well – let me share with you it says in Revelations. Now, when most people hear Revelations, their eyes glaze over, and quite possibly, roll to the back of their heads. Yes, the book is hard and intimidating, but it is also very beautiful and prophetic, and Revelations 5 is all about Worship and what will be going on in heaven, and quite frankly, we can consider worship hear on earth mere practice for what we'll be doing in Heaven!

In John's vision of Heaven, he says: "Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" [Revelation 5:13] Every single creature that existed giving God the glory during worship - for ever... and ever!

It’s amazing that once we get to heaven, we will be worshipping, worshipping, worshipping – constantly! We will be lifting our "golden bowls full of incense" (v.8 -- prayers and praises of the saints) and at the mere sight of Christ we will fall down before him and praise him! And not just some people ... everyone! (v.13)! All creatures, angels, man – we will praise him together!

How awesome will THAT be?

Now, I will be honest. As I mentioned yesterday in my closing, I do have a personal preference for worship. I don't care if it is fast, slow, contemporary or traditional. However... I do prefer "personal worship songs" (my sister in law has a good name for it from her SIL, but I can’t remember it) over "testimony" songs ... many traditional hymns are testimonies of what God did in the author’s life, and while I love the rich heritage we have in hymns, I simply adore the songs (choruses, hymns, contemporary music, etc) that take me to the throne in an intimate and personal way, many times even reciting scripture verbatim.

I find that when I’m singing a song to Jesus as opposed to a song about Jesus, I slip into deep worship, and feel that I am truly blessing Jesus with my worship. As a result, I end up being blessed in return – sort of like a rubber ball bouncing off of a wall – I throw it out to God, and it comes right back to me. I don't start out worshipping God to get a blessing – it just happens!

Here's an example of what I’m trying to explain and am floundering at finding the right words ...

Look at the words of a simple chorus that we sing "I love you lord, and I lift my voice. To worship you, oh my God, rejoice. Take joy my king in what you see. Let it be a sweet, sweet song to your ears."

Now, look at the words of a favorite hymn of many of the saints in our church (which I love too): "I'm so glad, I'm a part, of the family of God. I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by his blood. Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod. For I'm part of the family, the family of God."

Yes. I have been washed in the fountain. I've been cleansed by his blood. I am a part of the family of God. But I can’t use those words in worship! Where as, I can say... I LOVE you Lord!! I lift my voice to YOU! I want to WORSHIP you! I ADORE you! Let what I'm saying (or singing) BLESS you!

Did that make sense?

So the questions I leave with you today are... Are you truly worshipping God with reckless abandon? Is your worship coming from your heart? Do you really feel it? How do you feel more comfortable worshipping?

One more Spurgeon quote:

"Depend upon it, my hearer, you never will go to heaven unless you are prepared to worship Jesus Christ as God. They are all doing it there: you will have to come to it, and if you entertain the notion that he is a mere man, or that he is anything less than God, I am afraid you will have to begin at the beginning and learn what true religion means. You have a poor foundation to rest upon. I could not trust my soul with a mere man, or believe in an atonement made by a mere man: I must see God himself putting his hand to so gigantic a work." (Spurgeon)

There you have it. What are your thoughts?

Edited to add: I agree with what my friend Donnetta said -- "worship, in and of itself, is so much more than music. Music is just one way we worship God." Absolutely. I completely agree. I was just focusing on one part of worship with regards to Rev. 5 that I had studied the night before.

Worship - Part 1

Last night, I took Hunter to his Awana class, which by the way, is not at my own home church. While I was waiting on him, I sat in on the adult Bible class. They are studying Revelations, and the lesson of the evening (Revelations 5) really resonated with me, because it was about worship. I simply love to worship... I love to sing, raise my hands, clap, sway (oh, yeah!), and I love to make proclamations of God’s goodness, praising him with my heart.

But there are many people that simply struggle to get through an hour or an hour and a half of worship time each week, which to me is a sad (but true) statement. I have heard many different reasons why: "the worship leader doesn't speak to me." (Well, is that really their job?) How about "the music is too contemporary." (Compared to what? A traditional hymn like Crown Him with Many Crowns? Which, by the way, was considered “over the top contemporary” when they came out with it? Or maybe you’re referring to newer hymns than that, like the Gaither movement? Which again, were styled even more contemporary than the previously mentioned hymn, and received much negative feedback when first introduced in the ‘60s!) Or how about this one: "all I hear is loud instruments. Why can’t we just sing with our voices?" Well, you can. And it is beautiful! But you won’t be once you’re in heaven, so why not get used to it now?

So why do you worship? Is it out of tradition? Because you were taught to do it when you were younger? Really, what is the whole point of worship?

For me, the purpose of worship is to glorify, adore, honor, praise, exalt, extol, and please God. It is freely giving God love! He made us to worship him! This isn't a silent act, but rather a vocal act! You can even throw in a raised arm or clapped hand every now and then, and it will put a big ol' smile on God’s face! Trust me! It really will!

Charles H. Spurgeon said "God is to be praised with the voice, and the heart should go therewith in holy exultation." Amazing! You may not like it, but ... first we need to praise God with our voices... out of obedience, whether we feel like it or not. Then, our hearts will follow because what begins out of holy obedience ends in holy blessing. You may not like the worship style at your church, or your worship leader (I love mine!), or the instruments they use ... but you aren't worshipping THEM, and if we worship out of obedience, if we really humble ourselves in worship, God comes and meets us. I can't imagine a greater reward for the simple act of obedience!

There have been a lot of times that I didn't "feel like worshipping." Either I felt sick, or I was going through a trial I didn't want to go through, or I might have felt "empty" or maybe I just felt rebellious. But I have learned that when I close my eyes, tune out all distractions, and make my worship a sacrifice ... in other words, surrender myself to the Lord, force myself to praise him and get in tune with Him, he comes and fills my heart with joy and meets me where I'm at.

Okay -- to make this a shorter post, and to maintain your attention... this will be continued tomorrow! Please leave your comments on why YOU worship. What does it mean to you? What style of worship do you prefer? Tomorrow, I’ll share what kind of worship I prefer and why!