Worship
Did you know that all of life is worship? Doing life God’s way is a spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1-2). We worship at work, rest and play. But there are dedicated times of praise and worship where we generally mean singing and praying to the Lord.
Praise literally means to speak well. Worship means to bow down. So when we sing to God we praise Him – declaring truth about Hi know that all of life is worship? Doing life God’s way is a spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1-2). We worship at work, rest and play. But there are dedicated times of praise and worship where we generally mean singing and pram and extolling His virtues and we bow down in worship to enjoy His presence in our lives and hear from Him.
We see this at work in Psalm 95. The first five verses are declarative. Declaring truth about who God is and thanking him in music and song. He is a Great God and He is the creator of everything.
Verses 6 and 7 express intimacy of worship – bowing down, kneeling before Him. It uses shepherd imagery to show us enjoying his care over the flock that is the people of God.
The last verses seem to be a crunching gear change. The voice changes to God’s and he is challenging the people not to harden their hearts like the Israelites did in the wilderness.
That’s the pattern of a typical “worship time” in our own devotions, small group or service. We praise God with some songs and prayers of declaration, declaring truth about how good God is. That stirs our hearts to want to worship Him in intimacy with more worshipful songs. And we expect Him to speak in Scripture, prophecy or exhortation.
Make that a pattern for your own prayer and worship – Praise, worship and listen to the Lord.
Recommended extra reading
Pleasures Evermore (Sam Storms)
