Worship - Fundamental Gift
06-14-2004 8:42 pm
Everyone worships! Not everyone goes to church but everyone worships! They may worship their car, their job, their family, and one of many different possibilities. Maybe, they might even worship the all mighty, powerful God and Creator. Imagine that....but we all worship. It is a part built into us to worship God as part of our existence as a fundamental gift bringing us closer to God. The question becomes "Why do we worship?" Yes there is an element of us worshipping to following the commands of the Living Lord but I believe there our other reasons God wants us to worship so He can minister to us at the same time. For instance, read this in Isaiah 6 when Isaiah goes to the house of worship to seek God during a tough time after the death of a king. It says this... In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy , holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am Notice how Isaiah went from being at his lowest low and how worship and the touch of God took him back to a place of purpose. Worship gives God an opportunity to minister to us in several ways. Worship Strengthens the Heart - When we worship, we get our focus off of the problem and back on the one who holds all the cards. In Psalms 28: 6-8 says "Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. " Worship Opens the Heart - When we worship, we get the focus off the junk of life and open up our hearts so the Holy Spirit can minister to us in the way we desire so much. Tim Hansel, in the book "When I Relax, I Feel Guilty", writes the story of an older Indian chief who goes to Worship Assures the Heart - Focusing on God reminds us of His greatness and care. In Psalms 86: 10 it says “For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God." When we are focused on the All Mighty God and our perfect Dad, it reminds us how much He loves us and is constantly taking care of us. Worship Refreshes the Heart - Worship brings us to the God Himself who refreshes us in His presence. By assuring our heart, opening our heart, and strengthening our heart, worship with others prepares us for another round in the world as one who is alien to it. When all the struggles and challenges come, we do not need to face it as one who belongs to the world. In Isaiah 40: 31 it says that we will "...soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Keeping this in mind, it reminds me of a saying I heard that the eagle soaring in the sky does not concern himself on how he will cross the roaring river.