Category Archives: Worship

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A Tale of Three Worshipers

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

Whenever we exchange recognition of God’s holiness, surrender to his will and the sheer delight of his presence for a more controlled, convenient and cool experience of worship, we risk the loss of the kind of passionate praise that truly pleases him. Surrender and wonder are the heart of authentic worship, so offer that to your magnificent God the next time you’re in a worship experience—then offer it again the next time, and the time after that, too.

Going Deep // Focus: 2 Samuel 6:5-8, 14-16

David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God. David was angry because the Lord’s anger had burst out against Uzzah… [Sometime later, when the Ark was finally brought to Jerusalem] David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns. But as the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him.

If you were to outline this unusual text, it neatly falls into a three-act play on passionate worship based on the three main characters of the story.

  • Act One, Uzzah Died. 2 Samuel 6:6 says, “The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.”
  • Act Two, David Danced. 2 Samuel 6:14: “David danced before the Lord with all his might.”
  • Act Three, Michal Despised. 2 Samuel 6:16, “When Michal saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.”

For sake of time and space, let’s focus on the least known of these characters, Uzzah. As you read this story, if you are like me, the question you have is, why did God kill this seemingly well-intentioned man for his momentary mistake?  Here is what we need to consider:

It is always fatal to take charge of God. Uzzah was a priest, consecrated to oversee the care of the Ark, which he’d done for thirty years. You could say, he had hung out with the holy for three decades. That meant he was very much aware of the law of God and the Levitical regulations about moving the Ark.

So Uzzah’s reflexive act wasn’t a mistake of the moment, it was a lifelong obsession with managing the Ark. During those thirty years, it is highly likely he began to cut corners in his worship and to be selective in his obedience to God. Slowly, perhaps imperceptibly, he learned to control the presence of God. So to him, the cart was a more efficient way to worship. Eugene Peterson, who wrote a brilliant book on David called, Leap Over A Wall, says of this incident,

A well-designed ox-cart is undeniably more efficient for moving the Ark about than plodding Levites. But it’s also impersonal—the replacement of consecrated persons by an efficient machine… Uzzah is the patron saint of those who uncritically embrace technology without regard to the nature of God.

Do you think we tend to do that in our day, that we tend to manage God into more convenient and cool forms of worship? Do we ever approach worship in terms of what’s preferable to us or trendy to our culture rather than what is pleasing to God? Whenever we move from obedience to God and recognition of his holiness to a more controlled, convenient and cool worship, we risk the loss of the kind of passionate praise that pleases him. As Peterson writes,

Uzzah should forever be posted around the church as a warning sign: Danger! Beware of the God

There is certainly a danger in our day of getting too casual and too convenient in our worship and forgetting that God is still holy. We need to remember: God will not be controlled. When we fall into a pattern of control, deliberately or not, sooner or later, like Uzzah, we will become spiritually dead in our worship. Now since we were created to worship God, this is a grave danger.

Thomas Carlyle rightly stated, “Wonder is the basis of worship.” Let Uzzah be a perpetual watchman who cries out from the walls of our church, “Don’t ever lose your wonder of God!”

Going Deeper With God: Next time you are in a worship service, make it about God, not you. Then try that again the next time, and the time after that, too.

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Voyeuristic Worship

Reject Performance Based Worship and Just Sing to the Audience of One

Don’t be a voyeuristic worshiper. Next time you’re in a church service, forget the music style, the song choice, the smoke and mirrors, and the talent on the stage leading the singing. Shut all that out and give your heart in praise to the Audience of One.

Read: Psalm 145 // Focus: Psalm 145:21

“My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.”

I had occasion to be in another city some time ago where I attended a worship service. From all outward appearances, the church seemed to be thriving. The building was attractive and innovative, the guest services were effective, the publications were outstanding, outreach opportunities were plenty, the mission of the church was cleverly stated, the people were great looking, the worship band was hip, the songs were the latest—the “cool factor” of this church was extremely high. Oh, I almost forgot, they were even observing the 11th Commandment: Thou shalt have a cool café that serves Starbucks coffee and blueberry scones!

But I was bugged. As I looked around, I noticed that people were not engaged in the worship. They were watching, enjoying, applauding after each song that was performed perfectly by the band. And that, I think, was what bugged me: It was a performance—or it appeared that way to me. The congregation was really a “concert crowd” and they were watching and enjoying “worship” as it was performed onstage by their band of spiritual “rock stars”. Worship was happening voyeuristically.

Then it hit me! As I was looking around at everybody else and judging the authenticity of their worship, I suddenly realized that anybody else in that crowd could have looked at me “rubbernecking” and made the very same assessment: Voyeuristic worship. I wasn’t worshipping, I was watching.

It was in that moment that the Holy Spirit reached down and dislocated my heart—ouch! So I decided to worship. I literally whispered this prayer, “God, you deserve worship, and if I am the only person in this place that will do it, I will worship you with all of my heart. You’re going to get worshipped today, and I am going to be the one to do it!” And to the best of my ability, I did.

Now I’ve got to tell you, once I made that choice, and even though I didn’t particularly like the style of music or the song choices, I ended up having one of the greatest experiences of worship I’ve ever had. I came into God’s presence and experienced the joy of giving my love to him, basking in his goodness, and experiencing his presence. And guess, what? When I opened my eyes, I saw a different church—there were lots of worshipers.

What changed? Not the church so much; it was me that had changed. My perspective was different. My heart was softer. And my experience of worship came close to what I think God wants it to be for me whenever and wherever I gather with his people to praise him: Worship from the heart of the worshipper. I made the choice to worship—style of music notwithstanding—and I experienced God!

That’s what David is doing here in this psalm—finding reason to give God the worship he deserves. That’s what this psalm is calling for from you and me. So the next time you have occasion, join David—and me—by making that choice to worship the God who deserves our very best worship. There are plenty of reasons, you know!

And if you are the only one willing to do it—which you are probably not—make sure that God gets worshipped!

Making Life Work: The next time you are in a worship experience, close your eyes, forget about everybody else, forget about the style of the music, forget about you, and just sing a love song to the Audience of One.

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Enduring Love

Sound Bites of God’s Love

If you are one of those who dislikes modern worship, think about this psalm the next time you are tempted to get a little grouchy about your church’s song service. If you want to be critical of your worship leader’s “shallow” or “repetitive” song selection, then line up the psalmist too, and take your shot at both. You see, he repeats himself a lot—but that’s only because he can’t get over God’s enduing love.

Read: Psalm 136 // Focus: Psalm 136:1

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.”

One of the critiques of modern worship choruses is that they are too simple and overly repetitive. The great hymns of the church, on the other hand, are deeply theological and majestic both in lyric and music. I truly love both—the modern worship the Holy Spirit has birthed in the contemporary church as well as the hymns of our historic faith. Both move me to joyful worship of Almighty God.

Psalm 136 is akin to a modern worship chorus. In each of the twenty-six verses that comprise the psalm, you will notice simple, sound bite phrases that recall the goodness of God as both creator and redeemer, followed by the same line twenty-six times: “His love endures forever!”

So if you are one of those who, frankly, just dislikes modern worship, think about this psalm the next time you are tempted to get a little grouchy about your church’s worship. If you want to be critical of your worship leader for his or her song selection, you might as well line up the psalmist right beside them and take your shot at both of the psalmist and the song leader!

Or you could do what this psalm calls you to do: Focus on the goodness of God throughout the history of the world, and throughout your personal history as well. God has been faithful in all he has done, and merciful, too. He is the loving Creator and Redeemer—he always has been; he is right now, and when you wake up tomorrow, and the next day, and every day after that, he still will be.

O give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever!

Now—don’t you feel much better?

Making Life Work:Read this psalm out loud from beginning to end. Now see if you don’t sense God’s enduring love a little bit stronger than before.

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Loving The City God Loves

Pray For Her Peace and Prosperity

God cares for all cities, but he has a special love for the city of Jerusalem. It is special because God chose it as the physical place that would house his uncontainable presence. And since Jerusalem was once the physical address of the Great House of God, as it will again one day be the home of his holy temple, we ought to do everything we can now to contribute to its prosperity.

Read: Psalm 122 // Focus: Psalm 122:6-7

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”

Why should we pray for the peace and prosperity of a city that is not even in out country? My goodness, don’t we have enough to worry about in my our own community much less one that’s clear across the ocean! And why should Jerusalem get singled out for special attention? What about London or Moscow or Pretoria or Sao Paolo, or for heaven’s sake, Washington, DC? Aren’t those cities important to God?

Courtesy of Debbie Martin

Photo Credit: Debbie Martin

Well yes, those cities are important to God—all cities are! But Jerusalem is special. It’s special because God chose it as the physical place that would house his uncontainable presence. He selected the land of Canaan as the place where his people would live, Jerusalem to be the city where his temple would be constructed, and the sanctuary of that temple would serve as the central location for his people to worship him.

And even though there is no longer a temple, it is very clear from Scripture that Jerusalem will feature prominently in God’s grand plan for the eternal ages, where once again, Zion will be the central place in the entire universe, in all creation, where redeemed beings will gather to worship Almighty God.

That should be reason enough to love Jerusalem. That is plenty of motivation to pray for the city above all others. Since Jerusalem factors significantly with the people and purpose of God, we should go out of our way to be protective of it. (Psalm 122:8) And since it was once the physical address of the Great House of God, and one day will be again, we ought to do everything we can to contribute to its prosperity. (Psalm 122:9)

praying-for-jerusalem-near-holy-of-holies

Prayer for Jerusalem at the excavated site near what is believed to be the Holy of Holies. Photo Credit: Sheryl Landis

Perhaps you have never been to Jerusalem, and maybe you don’t give the city much thought. I want to challenge you to rethink that—on both levels. Do what you can to go there—make plans to go there at least once in your life. And in the meantime, consciously pay more attention to its goings on, keep your eye out for news about it, attend functions in support of it, and most of all, pray for it!

Do all that, and sooner or later, you will fall in love, like I have, with a city. There’s no place like it!

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, lift up your gates and sing,Hosanna, in the highest, hosanna to the king. By the way, when you take care of the things God cares about, and he very definitely cares for Jerusalem, then you will find this major blessings coming back upon your life: God will care for the things you care about!

Making Life Work: Make it a practice, today and every day, to pray for the peace and prosperity of the city of the Great King.

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A Near Death Experience

The Sacred Lesson of Learning What is First and Foremost in Life

A near death experience – avoiding a devastating accident, escaping a crushing spiritual blow, overcoming a life-threatening illness – leads us to the overriding conclusion of what is most important in life: the extension of God’s mercy to us and our response of love to the Lord. That is a sacred lesson no one wants to learn, but afterwards are glad they did!

Read: Psalm 116 // Focus: Psalm 116:1

“I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.”

There’s nothing like coming face to face with death to bring clarity to what is most important in life. The psalmist had either come through a literal near death experience, or he had gone through something spiritually that was so intensely difficult that death would have been a welcomed option. Whatever the reason for this deeply personal psalm, staring the grim reaper in the eye led the writer to this bottom line: I love the Lord!

I don’t wish a near death experience for you, me or anyone, but I do pray that we would come to the same overriding conclusion of what is first and foremost in life: The extension of God’s mercy to us and our response of love to the Lord. Tell me, what else in life is more important than that?

Now I understand, as do you, that love is a term used rather loosely in our world. We love our favorite food or football team, or a certain TV show, or a song or a celebrity—we even love our pets (dogs I can understand; cats I can’t). And when we are teenagers, we love our best friends one day and hate them the next. Love is a pretty squishy thing in our culture.

But when a near death experience peels all the false “likes” and faux “loves” back from the core of what love truly is, we find a response of love for God that expresses itself in very real terms and quite practical actions. The psalmist mentions several:

• Prayerful dependence on the Lord in daily life: “Death stared me in the face—I was frightened and sad. Then I cried, ‘Lord, save me!’” (Psalm 116:3-4, LB)

• Calm assurance in the face of death: “His loved ones are very precious to him, and he does not lightly let them die.” (Psalm 116:15, LB)

• Heartfelt gratitude for God’s goodness: “O Lord, you have freed me from my bonds, and I will serve you forever. I will worship you and offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving.” (Psalm 116:16-17, LB)

• Ruthless follow through of our vows to obey God’s law: “Here in the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, before all the people, I will pay everything I vowed to the Lord.” (Psalm 116:18, LB)

• Vocal, even visible and thoroughly authentic demonstrations of public praise for the God we claim to love: “Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 116:19).

Do you love the Lord? I do! How about we not just say it, but show it today in one of those practical ways. After all, in his mercy he has saved us from a great deal of bad stuff in life: “Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Please, Lord, save me!’… He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.” (Psalm 116:4,8) More than that, he has saved me from even worse stuff after death: “The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die.” (Psalm 116:15).

Wow! Now that I think about it, I really do love the Lord!

Making Life Work: Psalm 116:2 says, “Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!” God is bending down to listen to you pray right now. Why don’t you give it a shot. Call out to him and tell him what’s troubling you. He’s ready to hear—and act! And don’t forget to thank him as an act of faith and trust.

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Certain Doom Of American Idol

Human Beings Aren't Made To Be Worshipped

Every idol—those made of stone, and those made of flesh and blood—will come to certain doom. So will those who have created them and so will those who elevate them to places of adoration in their lives.

Read: Psalm 115 // Focus: Psalm 115:8

“Those who make idols will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.”

Finally, it’s dead. RIP! American Idol—the wildly popular television talent show finally went the way of all the earth. It died, to the dismay of dozens of millions of Americans who glued their eyes each week to the television to watch wannabe idols and text their vote for the latest greatest singing sensation to hit the airwaves. Think about the shows premise: one lucky dude who was just as un-famous and you and me only a few weeks prior to the show would hit instantaneous stardom—and he or he became the next American Idol.

By the way, I enjoyed the show, so my purpose is not to trash it—although shows like American Idol remind us that far too many people are way out of balance in their adoration of anything celebrity. But I do think we have an idol problem in our culture today. Just like the people to whom the psalmist referred, we, too, have our idols, and we would be wise to take note of his warning that not only will these idols come to certain doom, but so will those who have created them, and so will those who elevate them to places of importance in their lives.

Of course, we don’t worship literal images made of wood, stone, silver or gold like the ancients did, but wouldn’t you agree that we are just as susceptible to the seduction of less visible but highly sophisticated idols like wealth, celebrity, power and pleasure? Don’t you agree that the love money, the pursuit of fame—or at least the homage we pay to those who have attained it—the jockeying for top position and the relentless indulgence of self stand between many and their full and singular devotion to God?

Perhaps, in all honesty, you would have to admit that this includes you. Maybe you sometimes struggle with hanging on to “your” money when you really ought to be investing it in God’s work. Perhaps you wrestle with the desire to be known and admired for what you have done when you should really be offering acts of selfless, anonymous servanthood. It could be that there are times when it is difficult for you to put the things of God ahead of your own plans for pleasure and entertainment.

If you are placing importance, expending energy and make personal investment in things that drown out your full-throttled devotion to God, you have made them into an idol. But here’s the deal: at the end of the day, those things will have amounted to nothing. They cannot speak, see, hear, smell, feel, act or offer anything that benefits your preparation for eternity. (Psalm 115:5-7) The wealth, power, pleasure and fame they may produce in this life will crumble on that day when all creation stands before Almighty God—and so will all who have worshipped them ahead of God.

Don’t give your worship to another. It belongs to God alone. Worship God and he will be your protection (Psalm 115:9-11), your provision ((Psalm 115:12-13), your prosperity (Psalm 115:14-15) and your peace (Psalm 115:16-18).

No idol will do that for you—American or otherwise. Only God can, and only he is worthy of your worship.

Making Life Work: Psalm 115: 16 reminds us, “The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.” Take a moment to recognize and thank the Creator for allowing you to enjoy what he has made.*

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Earth Worship

Common Sense Stewardship Over A One Of A Kind Planet

We are the earth’s stewards, not its Savior, and while this planet is our home, don’t confuse it with our heaven. We are simply to watch over the created cosmos, being careful not to cross over the thin line that exists between watching and worshiping.

Read: Psalm 114 // Focus: Psalm 114:3-4, 7-8

“The sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back; the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs … Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.“

There is a lot of earth worship going on these days. If you don’t know what I am talking about, pay a little more attention to what is happening in the environmental movement. In my view, a radical form of environmentalism that is tantamount to idolatry has replaced common sense stewardship of the earth. Earth worship, to be precise—the worship of creation over the Creator.

Think about it: Blind loyalty, if not fawning love, is offered to the cosmos, monetary offerings are given to uphold its cause, the words of its high priests are revered without challenge, its message is spread by aggressive followers with the fervor of door-to-door evangelists, and those who don’t readily accept the message are mocked and marginalized.

Sounds like a religion to me!  The Apostle Paul spoke about this in Romans 1:25, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the earth. I think God brought his ‘A game’ when he created this planet. But don’t miss the point: Like everything else, it was created. And we, as the highest order of God’s creation, were given the assignment to manage the rest of creation on God’s behalf—and that includes lovingly and wisely caring for Planet Earth. But we are the earth’s stewards, not its Savior, and while this planet is our home, don’t confuse it with our heaven. We are simply to watch over the created cosmos, being careful not to cross over the thin line that exists between watching and worshiping.

Grasping this is so important, you see, because the earth actually worships its Creator. (See Romans 8:19-21) That’s what this psalm is about. And though God has put the systems in place that run the physical world day in and day out, season by season, eon after eon, every once in a while he breaks back into it and commands the cosmos to fulfill extraordinary things for his purposes. Those extraordinary acts are, in reality, nothing more than the release of pent up praise the creation longs to give its Creator. In other words, during those extraordinary moments of earth-shattering activity, the planet is praising.

And yet, when the earth simply goes about doing what the earth does—rising and resting with each twenty-four hour period, moving seamlessly from one season to the next—it too, in those ordinary moments, is offering praise to the One who created it and by his mighty power, sustains it. Moment-by-moment, day-by-day, year-by-year, the earth is worshiping.

The creation worships its Creator. What an awesome thing to consider. What an amazing thing to behold. I don’t want to get caught up worshiping something that worships Someone else. Do you? I want to give my worship to the Creator, and as I care for his creation, even then, I am offering him his rightful worship.

Earth worship! Sure go ahead. Join the earth in worship of its Creator.

Making Life Work: Get out your hymnal (that’s a song book we used to use in church) or Google the hymn, Praise To The Lord The Almighty, and sing it back in worship to your Creator.