Five Ways To Worship

Have you ever tried worshiping God with your nose?

I love the fact that, when God put us together, he gave us multiple avenues by which to experience the world around us. Rather than merely seeing and hearing the works of His hands, we can feel the breeze. We can smell and taste the food we need to sustain us. These five senses we have -- touch, sight, taste, smell, and hearing -- can warn us of danger, help us to make our way in the world, and even provide means of experiencing joy and pleasure.

We can also enhance our experience of God by engaging the senses. Listening to worshipful music -- even just instrumental music -- and letting it wash over you as you meditate on the glory of God. Seeing the world around you and praising the Creator, or viewing a work of art created as an act of worship. Feeling the grass beneath your feet or the touch of a child. Smelling a flower; tasting the fruits He has provided for our food.

Indeed, the Scripture reminds us we can experience God Himself through our senses!

Psalm 34:8 says "taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!"

So often, we see worship as something internal. We sing songs, and try to feel something inside ourselves. But God, though He lives in us, lives outside, too. He is all around us, and can be experienced -- and worshiped -- by each of the senses He provided.
 

Created in the Image of a Creator

Today is "Inspire Your Heart With Art" Day. I love that. I'm one of those people who finds all kinds of art inspiring, be it a beautiful painting, or piece of literature, or all kinds of music. Even film, when viewed for purposes beyond mindless entertainment, can be stirring.

You see, we have a Creator who loves creation. He loves to build, and He loves what he builds -- so much so that, when He created us in His image, He did not fail to make us, also, creative beings. He made us a people who love to create beauty, and to witness beauty in the creations around us.

Consider your own children. When they play together, my kids use their imaginations to create elaborate mini-plays. Sometimes, they're in "school." Sometimes, there's a wedding, or a concert, or a talent show. And in each of these cases, they go beyond the creation of a mere scenario and begin singing songs or creating drawings. Sometimes, they sing songs they already know, and sometimes, they sing songs they've just made up. And as their father who loves them, I delight in watching them and listening to them as they play. Sometimes, they sing, or put on a puppet show, or draw a picture specifically for their mom and me, which makes it even more special. But then there are those times they don't even know I'm watching, and I simply take joy in those candid moments of pure, unadulterated fun and creativity.

I think, as our Heavenly Father, God is the same way with us. After all, when you look at the wonders He created around us, when you study the simple beauty of the trees and grass and waterways or the majesty of space, you see the work of a Creator whose imagination is far above our own. And as a Father for whom creation is not only an act of joy, but a definition of self -- that is, Creator is not just what He does, but what He is -- He must also delight when we follow in His footsteps.

So, as David reminds us, let us remember our Creator by creating beauty for Him.

¹ Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
    it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
² Praise the Lord with the harp;
    make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
³ Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully, and shout for joy. (Psalm 33:1-3)

Psalm 103: Praise the Lord, My Soul!

As I was trying to decide what to do today's devotion on, I ran across Psalm 103. I can add nothing, this morning, to the words of David. Let his words be our prayer this, and every, morning.

¹ Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:
⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵ The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—
¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Praise the Lord, you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    who obey his word.
²¹ Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
    you his servants who do his will.
²² Praise the Lord, all his works
    everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Worship Out of the Church

Worship. Say the word and the sound of singing plays through your mind. A vision of people with their faces toward heaven, and their eyes closed, and their arms lifted. People being all... worshippy.

But one thing I've learned is, if you worship only in church, you aren't. You're performing. Worship isn't something we do. It is an attitude we have.

The book of Psalms, we know, is a book of worship. Of praise to God. Psalm 23, for example, is well-known as a song of praise for God's care and protection. But what I want to look at is Psalm 19.

The Psalmist is praising God for His glorious works as the Psalm opens. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."

But, as the worship continues, he goes on. Verse 9-14:

 The fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
    and all of them are righteous.

¹⁰ They are more precious than gold,
    than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
    than honey from the honeycomb.
¹¹ By them your servant is warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² But who can discern their own errors?
    Forgive my hidden faults.
¹³ Keep your servant also from willful sins;
    may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
    innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight,
    Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

The Psalmist is still worshiping -- and wants to continue to do so. But not merely in a church service. He wants to worship God with his whole being. He wants to worship by serving his God; by keeping himself pure;  by making his words,  and his very thoughts, holy. 

We don't worship with our singing voices and our instruments. We worship as we love: with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, and all our strength.

A Case of the Mondays

It never failed. The reasons why remain a mystery,  but nearly every Monday at a former workplace brought with it some brand new issue either with our computers or some piece of equipment or another. A switch would suddenly and randomly stop switching what it was supposed to be switching, and would have to be rerouted. A button that, on Friday, simply did what it was designed to do, on Monday would do what it was supposed to do, but also cause a second computer, linked to the first by the most tenuous of connections, to react as though that same button had been pushed over there.

"What's going on?" my co-worker would ask.
"It's Monday," I would answer.

And nothing more needed to be said.

It's been said that Monday gets a bad rap, but I'll admit, it's not exactly undeserved. No matter how you enjoyed -- or failed to enjoy -- your weekend, it's tough to go back to work. And, apparently, the gremlins are working overtime to make sure Monday is as confusingly off-kilter as possible.

So,  I'm not going to pretend it's all in your head, or that Monday isn't as rough as you seem to think it is. I know better.

No, the real question, when it comes to Monday -- and all that comes with it -- is how are we going to react to it?

The Book of Acts (Chapter 16: 15-40) tells us of Paul and Silas, and their time in jail. If you think being beset by Monday Gremlins is bad, you've never been arrested in the ancient Roman Empire. The men were stripped and beaten, and tossed into a dirty prison where they... praised God.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. (v.25)

You know the rest of the story, how they were freed by God, and how they made a disciple of their jailer. But notice how Scripture tells us about this act of faith. The nonchalance. There they were, praying and singing. The prison was nothing to them but a venue. Another place to pray and worship their Father and Savior. And the other prisoners listened.

I'm no fan of Mondays, but when it comes down to it, what is it to us, children of the King, but another day to praise Him?