The Posture of Worship Pt. I

"Come let us worship and bow down...let us kneel before the LORD our maker, for He is our God" (Psalm 95:6-7).

There are so many things that can be said about what worship is, and what it is not. Let's look at the definition of worship from Webster's Dictionary: worthiness, respect, reverence paid to a divine being; reverance toward a divine being or supernatural power, or the expression of such reverence; extravagant respect, admiration or devotion; to honor or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power.
It's very interesting how the word "reverence" is repeated several times in the definition of worship. This means that our worship is to honor or respect the supernatural Divine being, Creator of the Universe, the True and Living God. Notice that it says nothing about what we do when we worship, the garments we wear, the banners, flags, tabrets, streamers, or anything else that accompanies our worship. The true worship of God starts in our hearts, and everthing else follows. Over time, we have become so preoccupied with external things, that we have forgotten about the One whom we are worshipping. Worship time is now on the clock, and has to fit in with everything else that goes on in a service. It has taken on a life of its own, and sometimes has all of the characteristics of a staged show. Many times before a worship service, dancers are waiting "in the wings" talking about everything else but God, and say a quick prayer before going back to their original conversations until "showtime".

Worshipers, this should not be! If we are going to give honor and reverence to the supernatural Divine being, the posture of our hearts, as well as our bodies should be one of quiet meditation, even if we are going to dance to an upbeat song. Our worship is spiritual warfare, and lets the enemy know that our God is greater than anything he would try to perpetrate in our midst, on the people or in the atmosphere. We cannnot do this without starting from the posture of worship.

God has given us the awesome opportunity to publicly lead others into worshipping Him. Let's not be guilty of reducing worship down to another performance, or something we do because we are part of the Praise Team. We are all called to give extravagant respect, admiration and devotion to the Maker of heaven and earth, from the posture of worship! Selah...


*Thanks to Lynnea Johnson of Baltimore, MD for permssion to use this picture.