WORSHIP
Psalm 122
I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
For many Christians, going to church on Sundays is at best an obligation, to fulfil a duty and to meet expectations. They endure through the songs, prayers and the sermon and rejoice when the worship is over, so they can go on to do what they really want to do. They hope for some nice songs and a sermon that is both short and entertaining.
For the Psalmist however, it is a joyful occasion because in God’s Presence there is fellowship, justice and shalom. All the good that he desires for himself and his loved ones he finds there because God is there.
For the pilgrims making the journey to Jerusalem to take part in the festivities and to worship in the Temple, it is a joy that seeps into their whole being because God has been their life from young. Taught to obey God, from Sabbath observation to “kosher” food, He is in the fabric of their culture. God is their justice, their well-being, their peace and their prosperity.
We also need to think through this carefully and with a clear mind: Is God woven into the fabric of our lives? Is it true that all that we consider good and valuable we seek from his hand? Do we live with the understanding that our life and our destiny flows from his goodness and mercy? If that is so then to be in the Presence of God is joy.
When worship is an obligation that we must fulfil and we rejoice when that duty is over and we can get on with what we really want to do, then our Christianity is but an insurance policy that we must pay on a weekly basis.
It can be that we do not enjoy the worship services we attend and we are not enriched by the sermons we hear. Worship however is a matter of the heart and that we must clarify within ourselves; the practices of worship (singing, prayers, bible reading, sermon) are points of entry into God’s presence or aids to our expression, they are not worship in themselves. Worship is the joy and adoration of our heart in the Presence of the One who has given us and will give us everything that is good.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)