Bible Reading: Psalm 95:1 –11
“Oh come let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our Maker” – Psalm 95:6(KJV).
The images that come to mind when we think of worship include raised hands, slow sentimental gospel songs, and deep emotional stirrings of the soul. These images are no doubt appropriate, but they do not capture the heart of worship: it is about God not us. As Rick Warren has said ‘worship is not about you!’ Psalm 95 is an invitation to worship and a warning against rebellion.
The kind of rebellion the Psalmist has in mind here is definitely not the sort that we are familiar with in our contemporary age. It is not political rebellion but moral rebellion: sin, lawlessness. Sin is the true enemy of faithful worship. We are not offering God worship while we persist in sin. The Psalmist illustrates this point by recollecting the narratives about Israel’s rebellion while in the desert. There, through unbelief, the people hardened their hearts (vs. 8-10). Due to their moral stubbornness they were unable to enter God’s rest. (vs. 11). In other words, sin caused them not to be able to worship. We cannot continue in rebellion and pretend to worship.
But for those who would submit to God and His law, He invites us to participate in the incomparable pleasure of worship; the ineffable thrills of adoration. What known sin are we still persisting in? Are our hearts hardened against the Spirit? Maybe the Lord is calling you to give up that immoral relationship or perhaps he has spoken repeatedly to you about that business that does not glorify him. Whatever it is, if we would be true Worshippers, we must repent of them. May the Lord give us the grace so to do in Jesus’ name, Amen!
Prayer: Create in me Oh Lord the true heart of worship in Jesus Christ name.
Rev. Julius Oluwole