Read – 2 Samuel 7:22 – How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.
So far we’ve considered how, when, and who to worship. But what is worship? Is it singing praise songs at church on Sunday morning? Praying before a meal? Is there some sort of choreography that we need to learn?
Worship is witnessing and professing God’s sovereignty, power, and love. When we understand worship to be an act of acknowledgement and participation in God’s greatness, our understanding of worship becomes much broader. Worship is singing praise songs in church about God’s grace. Worship is praying in thanks for His provision before a meal. So is being moved by the beauty of the sky or the warmth of a fire. Worship is attributing all beauty and power to the Creator.
I used to feel skeptical about worship. Am I really worshiping or is my brain just responding well to a key change in a song? Are my eyes being tricked by the candles on the altar? Is the Spirit moving me or is that just a pair of voices harmonizing especially well? That is the wrong way to think about worship. The God we worship is also the God who formed our ears to appreciate harmony and our brains to release dopamine when a key change is executed to perfection. The God who refracts light into a rainbow is also the God who perfectly arranged the circle of fifths. He gave us eyes to see and ears to hear the beauty and totality of His creation. He created the chemicals in our brains that are stimulated by beauty. He also gave us hearts to feel and mouths to sing and profess His greatness.
Listen: Saint Paul Cathedral Choir: For the Beauty of the Earth – YouTube
