I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise
shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul
shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof,
and be glad.
O magnify
the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
I sought
the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalms 34:1-4 (KJV)
I often write about making choices. If you accept the doctrine of Free Will, we
always have it within us to choose (yes, God knows the choices we will make,
but He allows us to make them). According to Theopedia
(among my new online favorite resources),
God never coerces man's will,
rather God gives the ability to believe through the work of the Holy Spirit.
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| God never coerces man's will, rather God gives the ability to believe through the work of the Holy Spirit. Tweet This Now! |
We
choose. A Sunday sermon convicted me, as it reminded me that entering into
worship is a choice. The preacher opened by sharing recent feedback from a
parishioner to the question, “did you enjoy service?” Apparently, the response
was one I’ve considered, though never had the nerve to share with a preacher, of all people. “I didn’t feel it. I haven’t felt anything in church for
a while.”
There
was a time in my life when I attended worship to get something. Like there was
magic in the sanctuary that I had to tap into. I am thankful that life has
allowed me to understand that worship
is an active
response to the character, words and actions of God, initiated by His
revelation and enabled by His redemption, whereby the mind is transformed (e.g.
belief, repentance), the heart is renewed (e.g. love, trust), and actions are
surrendered (e.g. obedience, service), all in accordance with His will and in
order to declare His infinite worthiness.
In both Hebrew and
Greek, there are two categories of words for worship. The first is about body
language that demonstrates respect and submission; to bow down, to kneel, to
prostrate oneself. The second is about doing something for God that
demonstrates sacrifice and obedience; to offer, to serve. http://www.theopedia.com/Worship
Two
things struck me about this definition….a)it doesn’t mention a location
(church, synagogue, altar, Cleveland) and b)there is nothing passive about it. Worship, choosing to rejoice is an active response; a choice. We
decide to enter into worship, to rejoice, no matter the circumstances.
Did
you know (I didn’t) that Psalms 34 is the precise definition of “Praise Him,
Anyhow? Here’s the story…David had a price on his head when he departed
Isreal. King Saul, pursuing him as he fled, intended to kill David. David ran straight to a Philistine city (you can
imagine how that would work out), and schemed his way into the protection of
the Gath King, Abimelech, not because
Abimelech loved David, but because David pretended to be crazy. It’s bad luck
to kill crazy people, so the King spared his life. (Compare that to your worst day…) David’s response?
Praise. He chooses to rejoice, declaring that he will bless the Lord at ALL
TIMES.
What’s your
excuse? Is someone trying to kill you? I didn’t think so. Even if that were the
case, if you’re not dead yet, you can find a reason to praise the Lord. You can
choose. David did, and he was busy outrunning the biblical equivalent of a
mafia hit (sorry, I’m feeling happily irreverent today, and that’s a reason to
praise Him, too). Choose to rejoice. Choose joy. Optimists live longer, survive bouts
of illness and other tragedies more successfully and with less measurable
stress that others, and can make anything better just by shifting not the
circumstances, but their perspective. My BFF said something wise today (she
does that at least once every day, btw), “gratitude
is a practice. Like any muscle, it requires constant training.” I like
that-rejoicing as exercise.
I’m going to
work out now, I’m off to rejoice and praise the Lord. Spiritual fitness-a brand
new concept to me, and this day’s reminder that God is good.
On
Tuesdays, I pray and and play with friends here...
