Photo by Eradio Valverde; "The sea is His, for He made it." Psalm 95:5
Worship Is A Sign of Our Faithfulness Even in the Face of Fear
From Psalm 95:1 O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice! 8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways." 11 Therefore in my anger I swore, "They shall not enter my rest."
You and I were made to worship. It was the way God wired us to look beyond ourselves and our surroundings towards the heavens and to seek ways to acknowledge our need and our love for God. Some have tried to rewire themselves not to need to praise or so they think, but they do it towards different things. If you don't believe me, go interrupt a person watching the last few minutes of a basketball game during March Madness. Look especially for those who still hold out hope they are going to win $! Billion dollars by having picked the current teams to win certain brackets, and having chosen the right team to win it all. Don't ask those who picked Duke to win their bracket.
The psalmist in this psalm offers an invitation to worship God. He begins by saying we need to sing to the Lord. He adds "joyful noise" to those who think they cannot sing; but whatever racket or song comes out of your mouth, let your heart be directed to praise the "rock of our salvation." Please note the choice of words because towards the end he will direct us again t the incident we read about in Exodus. Worship is all about God and it involves giving thanks to God and singing to him our gratitude for all God has shared with us. The psalmist knows God is great and the king above all kings and gods and reminds us that we should know this by what we can see; God's hand is everywhere among us, in the deepest places to the highest mountains. The sea is God's because God made it, he declares, and the dry land has been made by God, formed by His hands. What more of an invitation do we need?
The posture of worship is in your heart, yet the ancients and some today still see kneeling as one posture to show our need for God. If our knees no longer allow us to kneel, we can bow our hearts in a posture of worship and praise. God is holy and God is ours, for we are God's people. We should allow worship to be a time when God can speak to us and our need. The writer then takes us to the Book of Exodus where the incident we read about yesterday showed the hardened hearts of Israel angry because they did not have water to drink. Moses cried out to God and God provided the water. The psalmist reminds us we should not be like that asking for proof or putting God to the test, to really see if God loves us and cares for us. The people of Israel were formed during those 40 years to become the people God wanted them to be, and of all who started out from Egypt towards the promised land only Caleb and Joshua made it inside. It was the children of those who entered in. The psalmist ends this psalm with what he says God said about those who angered God.
Life has a way of forming our character and our posture towards God; but it is not up to life to shape us towards faithfulness and fruitfulness, for we are God's and God is at work in us if we will just see it. We have faced challenges and obstacles this week, and tomorrow is the perfect time to join others in worship at your church. Today is the perfect time to lift up your concerns and challenges to God. We journey not alone, but in the presence and protection of God.
PRAYER: Loving God, you know my heart and my needs. I thank You for all You have shared with me and I pray that You would journey with me as I go through experiences and events that I did not expect for which I need Your strength. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
P.S. Prayer Update: The son of Rev. Harlene Sadler, Steve Sadler, is not expected to live. Please pray for Harlene and her family as Monday the doctors have to make some hard decisions about what to do.
IF YOU LIVE IN THE CORPUS CHRISTI AREA, PLEASE remember that tomorrow at First UMC in Corpus Christi, The Rev. Dr. Leonard Sweet, noted seminary professor and author, futurist and thinker, will be presenting some special lectures at 8:30, during Sunday school, and 11 a.m. On Monday there is a special luncheon with Dr. Sweet as well. Please go if you can!
