OHHHHHH happy day……HAPPY DAY

One of my favorite worship songs is the song that in the chorus it says……..

I have always loved that song but never put to much thought into the words. One of my favorite parts of any church gathering is the time when we all come together and sing praise and worship. I know this is the same for many people. So much so that many people have started choosing which church to attend based on if the music is: up-beat enough for them, if it is contemporary enough for them, if there is a full band on stage, some want the music to strictly be from the hymnal, some do not want instruments played during praise and worship, the list goes on and on.

                                                        

      

I looked up the meaning of worship, and there were tons of definitions. All of the definitions all stated that worship is a time of reverence to God, to bow down to him, kiss his feet, ascribe worth to. Deep respect or reverence towards God. Hum interesting no where in the definition do we see the words US , We, about how YOU feel. The Prophet Isaiah stated “these people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me”. Many times we, myself included, go into worship and sing loud and raise our hands, but our hearts are not in the right place. I know many times I have left worship and felt like I didn’t get much out of it, maybe it was because they didn’t sing the song that I liked, or I didn’t think the band was good enough, or they didn’t sing enough. I have felt heavily convicted by it, because worship has nothing to do with how I feel or what I get out of it. Worship is about praising God. The same God who gave me each breath I take, the same God who has fought and persued me, the same God who gave his life for me.

“Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings, honor the Lord for his glory and strength. Honor the Lord for the glory of his name. Worship the Lord in splendor of his holiness.” Psalms 29:1-2

                                                                    

Last night we had a worship night at the church we have been working with this month. We all packed into the small building. The music began to play and the people in the congregation began singing with everything inside of them, even if they didn’t know the words. They began shouting and dancing and crying out to God. All I could do was look around me, I was experiencing what real worship looks like. They didn’t care what they sounded like, they didn’t care that the Mzungus(white people) where leading. All they cared about was raising their voices to God, and thanking him for everything he has provided for me. They have it, they understand the true meaning of worship.