Psalm 149:3 - Praise dancing

Let them praise his name with dancing
     and make music to him with timbrel and harp.

I have a friend for whom praise dancing is a regular part of their worship services. I have lots of friends for whom instruments are a regular part of their worship services. I think this verse indicates God is ok with it. I am part of a fellowship who choses not to praise dance or use musical instruments in our worship service. I think God is ok with that too. I think God is concerned with our hearts. As long as we are bringing glory to God (and not ourselves) with our acts of worship, I think God is pleased.

Lord, thank you for allowing us to worship you in different ways. Please help us to keep the focus on you and your glory. Amen.

Joshua 1:8 - Time for God

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

How much time do you spend with God? How many hours of the week are you focused in study, worship and prayer. How much time to we spend connecting with God? In a week there are about 112 waking hours for most people. In your head break up the hours in your week. I figured I spend about 10% of my time connecting with God. I guess if you think about it like tithing, that's OK, but that means 90% of my time is focused on things of the world.

Lord, thank you for always being there to listen to our prayer or worship and to help us with our study of you and your word. Please help us to spend even more time connecting with you. Amen.

Psalm 134:1-2 - Lift up your hands

Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord
     who minister by night in the house of the Lord.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
     and praise the Lord.

These scriptures stood out to me for two reasons, First, I thought it was interesting that there were people who ministered by night in the temple. I guess someone needed to keep watch, keep the candles burning and maybe more. It's good to recognize the work of those behind the scenes. Secondly, this Psalm suggests they lift up their hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord. The people who I worship with are a pretty conservative group, so there is not much lifting of hands. If I had just posted verse 2, it would have supported this practice (it really doesn't bother me one way or the other), but I thought it needed to be shared in context as something that was done in the temple, but at night when no one else was around.

Lord, We love you so much and want to praise you in all the ways pleasing to you. Please help us to fully worship you, in a group or alone. Amen.

Psalm 100:2 - Gladness

Worship the Lord with gladness;
     come before him with joyful songs.

In this holiday season, let us be ever joyful, glad while we are worshiping and as we are going about our daily lives.

Lord, thank you for being an awesome God so worthy of our joy and gladness. Help us to share that joy and gladness with others. Amen.

Psalm 98:5-6 - Make music

make music to the Lord with the harp,
     with the harp and the sound of singing,
with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
     shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

Musical instruments in worship...some people are for it and some are against it. I know we don't have any New Testament examples of worship with instruments, but I think this Old Testament verse assures us that God is praised with this form of worship as well. Honestly, I am happy to worship without instruments (which is what we do at the church where I am a member). I love the four part harmony and I think God is greatly praised and pleased with our voice offering. I also believe a church with a band can make an offering of song equally acceptable to the Lord.

Lord, thank you for giving us the gift of music so that we can return that gift to you. Please help us to rightly present this offering to you. Amen.

Psalm 96:2 - Day after day

Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
     proclaim his salvation day after day.

How often do we spend time singing to God and praising his name? How often do we proclaim his salvation? Sometimes we are content to focus on God only once or twice a week, or once or twice a month or even once or twice a year. God deserves our praise every day. We should be talking about salvation day after day.

Lord, thank you for being so worthy of our praise and for salvation. Please help us to daily praise you and share your salvation. Amen.

Psalm 20:7 - It's a matter of trust

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

How do you determine if something is an idol in your life? Can you live without it? Is this where you go when you are having trouble? Is this your "place" of safety and security? Does the comfort and feeling it offers satisfy you like nothing else? The only thing deserving this level of adoration in our lives is God. Our trust needs to lie only in him.

Lord, thank you for offering us yourself as the perfect subject of worship and adoration. Please help us to recognize the idols in our lives and to remove them from their pedestals. Amen.

Psalm 18:2 - Instant gratification

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

     my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

     my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

This verse is great! So empowering! The Psalms are a great place to go for instant gratification, especially the first or second verse of each psalm. They all begin with praise, worship, or calling to the Lord. If you ever need a quick pick me up from the Word, just read a few first verses of the Psalms.

Lord, thank you for your word and for being our rock. Please help us to keep your word close to our hearts at all times, Amen.

Psalm 9:9 - Presenting our problems with praise

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Psalm 9, like many of the Psalms, is filled with prayers asking God to defeat enemies. I don't really have big enemy issues, but I do have issues. Just like David's Psalms are full of the same problem, our prayers tend to take on a repetitive nature. We daily go to God in prayer with the same issues over and over because these are what are important to us. These are our "enemies". The thing that makes the Psalms so beautiful is the way God is constantly praised, worshiped, and thanked. Are these included when you pray?

Lord, thank you for allowing us to come to you with our problems with the knowledge that you are our refuge and stronghold. Please help us to offer you praise and thanksgiving even in our times of trouble. Amen.

Exodus 7:16 - Three days of worship

Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.

I noticed something while reading through Exodus this time I had not noticed before. I had always thought God had asked Moses (through Aaron) to ask Pharoh to "Let my people go" permanently. God was only asking for them to be let go for three days to worship him in the wilderness. This is stated several times, starting in Exodus 3:18.

Lord, thank you for the depth of your scriptures. Please help us to find new things in them every day. Amen.

Romans 12:1 - Moment by moment worship

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Worship is so much more than going to church. By turning our bodies over to God, every little thing we do every moment of every day constitutes an act of worship. Even if you're doing something you don't want to be doing: work, study, etc..., those things with the proper mindset become worship.

Lord,  Thank you for your mercy. Please help us to sacrifice ourselves to you and worship you always. Amen.

Acts 17:22-23 - The natural desire to worship

Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

(Full Passage Acts 17:15-34)

Paul uses the natural desire of man to worship a god to point a group of philosophers from Athens to the one true God. Paul was teaching something new, and for a group of people who were always looking for something new, I'm sure they began to listen out of the sheer novelty of the idea. He begins by complimenting them on their desire to be religious, then focuses in on the area they themselves claim not to know, the unknown god. Paul teaches them of the true God and points out why the other gods are false. Last, he challenges them with the concepts of judgment and resurrection. Some listeners “sneer”, but some want to hear more and become followers. Paul used his understanding of humanity’s innate spirituality as a way to talk to a group of non-believers who could have been considered unreachable due to their polytheistic beliefs. 

Lord, thank you for giving us an innate desire to worship you. Please help us to find that desire in others and point them to you. Amen.

Romans 1:25 - Creator vs. created

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

For many years I have thought about the concept of worshiping the created verses the Creator. Really any time we place something or someone above God, this is what we are doing because God created everything.

Lord, thank you for giving us the truth and creating everything. Please help us to keep your truth and serve only you. Amen.

What is your favorite song?

A few days ago, someone asked me, "What is your favorite song?" That was a hard question for me. I thought about it for a week or so before I answered. When I start singing in my head the first song is usually "Oh God, you are my God" (Step by Step), then "This is the day", then "Psalm 95", then sometimes "The Mountain Song" (Oh Lord, I need a mountain to climb on), and last sometimes "Thank You Lord.". I realize that is more than one song, more like Crystal's Medley. :)

Lord, thank you for the opportunity to praise you in song. What a beautiful way to worship you! Amen.

Job 1:20-21

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

Last night in ladies class the teacher talked about the song Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman. It is such an amazing song. We discussed that God is worthy all the time regardless of our current situation. In good times and in bad we must choose to praise and worship God. When the Lord gives and when the Lord takes away we must choose to praise and worship God.

Lord, you give and you take away. May your name be praised. Amen.