Worship

When God looks down on our churches to take in our praise and worship what does He see?  What does He experience?  Does He see a body of thankful hearts united as one glorious choir singing praise and worshiping His Holy name?

Or, does He see half the congregation standing with their arms crossed, their mouths closed and their teeth clenched because they don’t like that song or that style?

Let’s not forget that when a church sings to the Lord they are not the audience, they are the choir.  The purpose of the praise and worship is not to bless the participants or make us feel good. There is nothing wrong with enjoying worship.

Yes, we feel good when we worship in the Spirit, but that is a side benefit.  It’s not why we worship.  The purpose of worship is to bless God’s heart, to put a smile on God’s face.  The only question that matters is how does our worship make God feel?  Do we bless His heart?

Psalm 103:1 (NASB-U)  Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

If we come to worship only for what we can get out of it, then we have shifted the purpose of worship.  To some extent we are saying, “Worship me; pay attention to my needs; focus on me.”  But that’s not the point.

When the music is over and the benediction is given, if God doesn’t applaud, then we have failed.  Unless God says, “well done,” we haven’t worshiped and blessed His heart.