Worship Is So Much More

Worship Is So Much More

I Chronicles 16 lays out an entire worship service for us and we can learn a lot just by looking at the verbs that are used. There are 11 different commands involved in worship. We are told to seek Him, remember His deeds, sing with the earth, proclaim good news, tell of His glory, ascribe to the Lord, bring an offering, worship in holy array, tremble before Him, give thanks to Him and then speak.

We will look at each one of those verbs. But, today, let’s look at the most remarkably thing about that list. Can you see what is glaringly absent from it? What if I pointed out that praise is conspicuously absent?

Well, it’s not really absent. Rather, it’s found before the list is even mentioned. So, what does that mean? It means that praise is not a specific action or a command. Rather, praise is an attitude of the heart that governs every single action involved in worship.

Look at how the chapter starts. The Ark of the Covenant is brought in, the people give their offerings, they are blessed and gives meals for the feast and then this takes place:

1 Chronicles 16:4

“He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, even to celebrate and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel.”

You see, celebration, thanksgiving and praise are what lead us into worship. So the heart of worship starts there. Over the weekend, I’m giving you a homework assignment. Spend the next few days celebrating God by giving thanks and praising Him. Let’s get our hearts in the right place and then we’ll start that list by looking at what it means to seek God.

Psalms 27:4

“One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to meditate in His temple.”