Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. (Psalm 95:6-7).
Worship. It’s a word that means many different things to so many different people. It is a word that conjures up our life experiences in places of worship, churches, where some sort of rite and ritual is carried out. It is a word that describes the thing that springs forth from awe-inspiring moments, like the birth of the child or a mountain sunrise. For some it means singing. For others it means dancing. For still others it means quiet meditation.
The psalmist invites us to worship, but to what is exactly inviting us? Yes, he calls us to worship, but to do what? He calls us to it today. He calls us to it everyday.
Worship begins with this simple recognition that there is no one and no thing like our God. It places us on our knees before the God to whom all this belongs. By his mercy and his redemption, even the sinful are his.
He is the one who paints the sky with sunrises and sunsets. He is the one who creates the mountain landscape and the city skyline. He is the one who holds all of this - and I do mean all things - in his hands. Not only did he make it and not only does he sustain it, but he also owns it all still.
All this, all that you might call into your mind’s eye, is his. Even you. Especially you. And not just you. Us. All of us. All of God’s people. He formed you with his hands. He is your Maker, your good Maker. He is our Maker. He is our God.
We are his people. Redeemed by him through the blood of the Lamb. Bought. Purchased. Owned so that we belong to him and with him. His own dear child bought with the precious blood of his own dear Son. We are his people. The people under his care.
It’s awe-inspiring! It makes our hearts sing and our ears open. Yes, we must hear him! We must listen to him when he speaks. Our ears our his. We must listen. Our lives are his. We must hear him. We cannot pretend that our lives are our own to do with as we please. We dare not put cotton balls in our ears and ignore him. Because we are his.
We are his. He is ours. Everything came from him and still belongs to him. Even you. Especially you. Hear him today.
This weekend, we’ll be looking at another psalm that not only teaches us about the nature of worship, but calls us to it. We’ll be looking at Psalm 100. I can’t wait to open it up to you and to worship with you.
We are his! Pastor Nate
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