Worship

“You are worthy, O LORD, to receive honor and glory and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” (Revelation 4:11, NKJV).  “Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering and come before Him.  Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” (I Chronicles 16:29 (NKJV).  “God is Spirit:  and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24, KJV).

How do you worship God?  The Sunday School lesson my class studied for January 27, 2013, challenged us to examine our personal experience of worship to see if we are simply going through a ritual or do we encounter the presence of the living God, meet and communicate with Him, and then as a result have changes in attitude, action and life?

To me, the idea of evaluating my worship experience both in corporate worship in our church service and in my private worship times was something I wanted to do.  Am  I, indeed, only offering shallow “presence” at the worship service of my church, or am I aware of meeting the LORD Himself and giving glory due Him?  With an expectancy of going into the presence of God, I felt as though I was “walking on holy ground.”  Preparation for worship involved confession of my sins, for only then could I worship Him “in the beauty of holiness.”  “God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” 

How can I worship God in spirit?  To me, it means ridding my mind (spirit) of things that detract me from concentrating on God.  I deliberately fill my mind with thoughts of His majesty, glory, power, dominion, Lordship of my life.  Last Sunday I imagined a host from all lands worshiping in Heaven at the very throne of God.  I imagined my dear husband and other departed loved ones already there, in that throng of worshipers. We are promised that glorious experience as the redeemed, and for a moment I had a marvelous vision of that time. Other acts of my corporate worship included concentrating on the words of hymns and making them my heart’s message to God: listening to the prayers led by others and making them my heart’s prayer.  I listened  as the Word was expounded for truths that I need to learn, remember and live by.  I also sought to know needs that call for positive action on my part as I depart from worship to serve.

Awareness of God’s divine presence is absolutely necessary to worship. What about  worship, both public and private?  Do I meet God?  Do I praise and adore God, stand in awe of His majesty, power and glory?  And does the experience of worship make a difference in how I think, how I react, how I serve, how I live?  If so, then I have worshiped, I have come into the presence of Almighty God.