By Peter Roxburgh
It was all Spiderman's fault! Yup. It was his fault that I was in a foul mood and refused to worship God. I was 10 years old, we had just been given our first TV and one of the few English programs on air those days was Spiderman on a Sunday morning. Despite me regularly pretending to be ill, my parents made me go to church with them. And so I was in a foul mood. And it was Spiderman's fault.
These days there are still some Sundays when I can go to church in a mood that means I refuse to worship God because I don't 'feel' like it or because my circumstances tell me I shouldn't - like somehow witholding my worship lets God know exactly how I cheated I feel.
This Psalm is a real challenge and reminder to us that we shoudn't base our praise and worship of God on how we feel or our circumstances.
Let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation (v1)
Why?
Nothing there about:
If we praise because of the above (or countless other reasons) then when the opposite of those circumstances is true, we will find it easy not to worship.
The Israelites made this mistake in the desert where they chose to NOT worship God because of their circumstances. Instead of worshipping through their circumstances, they complained about their circumstances. And it cost them dearly! (v8-11)
The truth is that even if God never did anything for us, He would still be worthy of our praise for all the reasons quoted above.
I don't suggest that we sing empty words when our hearts do not mean it. That too is something God detests (Isaiah 29:13). But I do suggest that no matter how we feel or circumstances, we stir our hearts in praise. Sure it wont be easy, it wont be free-flowing, but the praise of a broken heart is the sweetest song of all.
We always have a choice - in difficult circumstances we can choose to complain or choose to worship.
Someone who has exemplified this for me recently is Chantalle. Most of us wont know much of the great trial and testing she has been through over the last few months and yet she regularly makes the choice and effort to come to Friday morning prayers and contributes with beautiful prophetic songs of worship and praise.
Remember, God is worthy of praise because of who He is. You can complain about your circumstances or you can worship through them. The latter will bless you, bless those around you and bless God immensely!
These days there are still some Sundays when I can go to church in a mood that means I refuse to worship God because I don't 'feel' like it or because my circumstances tell me I shouldn't - like somehow witholding my worship lets God know exactly how I cheated I feel.
This Psalm is a real challenge and reminder to us that we shoudn't base our praise and worship of God on how we feel or our circumstances.
Let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation (v1)
Why?
- For the Lord is the great God (v3)
- The great King above all gods(v3)
- In His hands are the depths of the earth (v4)
- The mountain peaks belong to Him (v4)
- The sea is His (v5)
- His hands formed the dry land (v5)
- He is our Maker (v6)
- He is our God and we are His people (v7)
- We are the flock under His care (v7)
Nothing there about:
- Because the band sound really good this morning
- Because life is going really well
- Because the kids woke up late and you got a lie-in
- Because you've just got a promotion
- Because you haven't sinned for the last 24 hours
- Because you feel like it
If we praise because of the above (or countless other reasons) then when the opposite of those circumstances is true, we will find it easy not to worship.
The Israelites made this mistake in the desert where they chose to NOT worship God because of their circumstances. Instead of worshipping through their circumstances, they complained about their circumstances. And it cost them dearly! (v8-11)
The truth is that even if God never did anything for us, He would still be worthy of our praise for all the reasons quoted above.
I don't suggest that we sing empty words when our hearts do not mean it. That too is something God detests (Isaiah 29:13). But I do suggest that no matter how we feel or circumstances, we stir our hearts in praise. Sure it wont be easy, it wont be free-flowing, but the praise of a broken heart is the sweetest song of all.
We always have a choice - in difficult circumstances we can choose to complain or choose to worship.
Someone who has exemplified this for me recently is Chantalle. Most of us wont know much of the great trial and testing she has been through over the last few months and yet she regularly makes the choice and effort to come to Friday morning prayers and contributes with beautiful prophetic songs of worship and praise.
Remember, God is worthy of praise because of who He is. You can complain about your circumstances or you can worship through them. The latter will bless you, bless those around you and bless God immensely!
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