ELEMENTS OF WORSHIP

Hezekiah organized the groups of priests and Levites for their respective tasks, handing out job descriptions for conducting the services of worship: making the various offerings, and making sure that thanks and praise took place wherever and whenever God was worshiped. (2 Chronicles 31:2)

All my life, worship services have held some variation of the same elements: music, whether hymns or praise songs, congregation, solo, choir or orchestra. Prayer. Sermons. Announcements. Offering. Lord's Supper. Baptism.

2 Chronicles 30-31 describe a Passover celebration under King Hezekiah.  They feasted (two weeks of celebration).  They repented of their sins and smashed idols. They participated in the sacrament of Passover. I expect that priests taught about the Passover, the law, about God. Prayer, confession, repentance. Oh, the slaughter of the animals in the offerings.

Worship services today have become a lot cleaner, you could say.

I read the verses above, liking the idea of "job descriptions" for the Levites.  (Good old Hezekiah must have had a gift for administration along the way,)

But what really tickled my fancy was the instruction, "making sure thanks and praise take place wherever and whenever God was worshipped."

Aren't thanks and praise, thanking God for what He has done, and praising Him for who He is, at the heart of worship?

I asked my FB friends for non-dictionary definitions of worship.  This is what they said:

• love
• praise
• our expression of his worth
• adoration
• service
• entering God's presence
• responding to the worthiness of God
• all of you responding to all God is
• centering all your being on God
• expressions of a God focused heart

I love the definitions, their depth and breadth. Several fall under the "praise and thanks" category. Others fall into worship being the guiding rule of our lives: Loving God with all our hearts, strength, souls, minds. It's our living sacrifice. 

Perhaps the takeaway is that worship should be an attitude, a habit of our lives. It's not confined to certain places or times. 

And looking to God with thanks and praise is always a good place to start. 

INCLUSIVE WORSHIP (2 Chronicles 20)

Everyone in Judah was there--little children, wives, sons--all present and attentive to God. (2 Chronicles 20:11.)

Jehoshaphat and Judah were under attack from neighboring countries, and the king called for a national day of prayer. One might expect men of fighting age to show up. "Everyone was there." The writer felt compelled to clarify whom he meant by "everyone."  Little children, wives, sons--the majority of the people of Judah came to Jerusalem for the occasion.

Two verses later, Jahaziah gave the multitude God's answer: "Attention EVERYONE. . .God's word:
This is God's war, not yours. . ."

It's not surprising that the men brought their families for worship. What is jaw-dropping odd to me is that they brought them to war.

The next morning, they left for the battlefield (after a rousing worship service, complete with choir and orchestra).  It doesn't say only the  men followed the king. Perhaps the same "everyone" came along. After all, the prophet had promised, "You won't have to lift a hand in this battle." and God had commanded, "March out boldly."  What could be bolder than bringing along entire families as if this was a picnic?

Of  course, our 20-20 hindsight tells us that God set the armies to fighting each other instead of Judah and they all died. It took the Judeans three days to clear the loot. Maybe they needed all the hands to carry the extra!

There are times that God calls us to act as a single body. Each body part has a different role to play, but all are needed.  Even the women and children. :)

Not to mention they started with prayer, music, and preaching. Hey, that sounds like church!  We enter to worship together and leave for the battle . . .

OUTCOME OF WORSHIP (2 Chronicles 2)

He placed the pillars in front  of The Temple, one on the right, and the other on the left. The right pillar he named Jakin (Security) and the left pillar he named Boaz (Stability). 2 Chronicles 2:16-17, MSG

My mother loved to tell me that the sign over the door to the chapel at her college read, "Enter to worship, leave prepared to serve."

The pillars at the front of Solomon's temple said, "Enter to worship, leave in security and stability."

Reading the description of Solomon's temple, trying to really imagine it, boggles my mind. The interior was gold-plated? Coated with precious stones? An entire building, 30'x90'? What was worship like for those few generations  of Israelites who worshipped there in all its glory, before kings stripped more and more gold for other purposes?

Even stripped, it was built of the finest cedar from Lebanon.  Fragrant, shining, amazing.

At the front of the Temple stood two pillars, seen upon entering and upon leaving. Solomon named them "Security" and "Stability."

If I asked 100 Christians what they expect to receive from worship, I would probably receive 100 different answers.  Somehow, though, I suspect few if any would mention security and stability.

I remind myself that this was a house of worship for an entire people, not a place for a local group of believers, such as the synagogue in the New Testament.  That political Israel and God's people Israel were one of the same.  Praying for our nation, security and stability would rank high on our list, especially after the recent horrors in Boston.

But although the Temple was for the entire nation, they worshipped as individuals. While I might not associate security and stability with worship, they are things I crave. In faith I reach for security in Christ, for stability that I can finish the books God has called me to write even when each project becomes a challenge to complete because my health is iffy.

Security and stability might not be the emotional highs I associate with worship, but they are what I need. And after worship, I should be more prepared than ever to depend on the God who is my sure foundation.


P.S. I am on bedrest, trying to get some pressure sores to heal. From one day to the next I am unsure of my availability to write, or my own strength.  So I will write as I can, and crave your prayers when I can't!

PRAYER, CORPORATE AND PERSONAL (1 Chronicles 16-17)

I couldn't decide on which verse to write about today and then I realized they're both about the same subject: prayer. 

David gave the job of leading worship to Asaph (who wrote a number of Psalms.) What interested me was the description of worship: to lead in intercession, giving of thanks and praising God.  My mind jumped to the "hand" description I use to teach children about prayer: Praise God for who He is: Thank Him for what He has done; confess your sins; pray for others; pray for yourselves.

Apparently that is at the heart of prayer, especially in corporate worship. And since we know Asaph wrote Psalms along with David, much of the prayer happened in song.

In chapter 17, David is praying a personal prayer in response to God's promise to establish his kingdom. In part, he says, "You looked on as a Somebody, even though You know me as I am."

Here is the meat of prayer. David dialogues with God, responding to God's actions on his behalf, and talks back. Not only thank you, but how he felt about it.  Intensely personal (so how did the writer of Chronicles know what David said?), the words resonate with me.

I feel like I am low on the list of importance. I fight feeling invisible and feel unworthy when attention is showered on me.  I feel like perfection is required to be a Somebody and I know how imperfect I am. In other words, as David said, "You know me as I am."

God knew all about David's weaknesses--and made him a Somebody in spite of them.

News flash: We are all Somebodies in the kingdom of God. Not a one of us in important.

Let's worship the God who made us Somebodies as we worship together this weekend.