7 “Let us go to his dwelling place;
let us worship at his footstool—
8 arise, O Lord, and come to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.
9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness;
may your saints sing for joy.”—The words of the Psalmist from Psalm 132:7-9
We live in a selfish and self-centered society. The number one question most people ask a dozen times a day: “What’s in it for me?” Is it any wonder, then, that we bring this same attitude with us when we enter the doors of our churches?
When we gather for worship, we should have a singular focus. We have come to “attribute worth to God.” That’s what the word “worship” means—to attribute worth to God. So, isn’t it more than a little silly if we come to our times of worship with our minds and hearts filled with thoughts only of ourselves: our needs, our desires, our wants, our pain, our joy, our distractions?
A couple of dozen years ago, Bruce Ballinger wrote a rather simple Gospel praise song that captures the very essence of what I’m trying to convey in this blog post. The folks at Maranatha Music published and popularized this song for use in worship services across the United States, as they transitioned from more traditional worship music to praise music. Thus, the song has almost become a cliche when traditionalists, like me, talk about the decline of church music. Notwithstanding that self-imposed baggage, I still must confess that even in its simplicity, this praise song elegantly conveys a significant mind change that should take place whenever we gather for worship.
This video should illustrate my point. I hope you will receive my message. Please click here to watch this video.
The next time we enter church to worship, let’s set aside our normal selfishness and focus on the God who loves us. Okay?
Will you please pray with me?
Thank You, God, for loving us. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Savior. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
Help us, O God, when we come into our churches for a time of worship, to focus all our attention on telling You how much we value who You are. Help us give ourselves wholeheartedly to expressing our love for You and our joy at Your appearing in our daily lives.
Help us to become more and more aware of the many times each day You reveal Yourself to us. As we see Your hand at work in our lives, help us to rejoice that You love us and that You have chosen us to belong to You before the foundation of the world.
Thank you for daily sustaining us in the midst of this sinful and perverse world. And, thank You for hearing our prayer in and through the precious Name of Your Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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