Worship for a Timeless God

Despite everything 2020 has thrown at us, see how God has led us! Come on, let us worship Him! You see, because worship captures the entire gamut of human affection toward the object of worship, it is the highest sacrifice that can be made, and our God deserves no less. A song writer says, “Whatever else we are or become, God has created and put in each of us a worshipper.” I agree.

True worship makes us small, and makes God big, so that He can find the room to make us bigger. It is more than going to church on Sunday, Christmas day, or New Year's eve. It is what we do in our hearts, even in our private closets.

Too many Christians are content to be just members of a local church. They're under the illusion of being saved because they belong to a local church. No, salvation is based on a personal and intimate relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. If that relationship is missing in your life, you have work to do. He did it for me, He will do it for you, too.

Listen, the devil comes to church, too. His purpose for doing so is twofold: to either snatch it or desecrate whatever worship men want to offer God.

He comes to church as that skimpily dressed lady who shows her breast clefts with seduction in her eyes; he comes as that guest minister who raises an offering to gratify himself, and who places a pricetag on his ministration; he comes as that usher who steals from the offering bowl; he comes as that adulterer and fornicator who sings in the choir and serves in ushering or whatever ministry he hides in; he comes as that lying preacher who merchandises false prophecies to acquire fame and wealth; he comes as one of those bribe-eating 'brothers and sisters' who ‘sanctify’ their loot by paying tithes and making loud donations at harvest; he comes as that young man whose main purpose in church is to find a new girlfriend.

Yes, the devil comes to church too, but he doesn’t come looking like the devil; he comes looking like one of us. So let's not make a big deal of our 'churchiness.' Let's make a big deal of our worship.

Although God has in His infinite intellect created all things to bring Him worship, none of God’s creations has the capacity and endowments to worship that man has. More than any other creature, man has the intellectual and physical abilities to create the most diverse and amazing sounds and motions.

The human hands, for example, can clap, snap, beat, wave, and be raised all to the glory of God. The body can sit, lie, spin, summersault, roll, kneel, stand, jump, walk, run, and bend. It can whirl, swirl, and dance a variety of dances, some amazing, and some breathtaking. Among the animal species, only man has the ability to create intelligible words. Why would God allow such a variety and complexity of abilities in the human body if not for the purpose of exalting His name? Man was created to be a worship genius in the universe.

Because praise and worship is very close to God’s heart, we need to agree on some salient aspects of it. How big God becomes is directly proportional to how much we allow ourselves to become small before Him.

Music profoundly expresses the emotions and adoration in a manner that ordinary words cannot convey. Yet, worship is more than just singing a song; it is being consumed by it. Much as many choristers inadvertently project their singing to please the congregation, praise and worship should primarily draw in God, not men.

It is not uncommon for performers to ask the audience after a performance, “Were you blessed by that?” in apparent acknowledgment that the performance is designed to entertain men. No, God, and not man, is supposed to be entertained by our praise and worship.

How times have changed. There was a time when true Christians looked like unbelievers in order to escape persecution and the taunts of men. They would go to church with their Bibles wrapped or hidden. Christian women found the ubiquitous handbag a convenient hide-away for their Bibles. The reverse is the case today. Unbelievers flaunt their big Bibles and act like Christians in order to ‘belong’ and avoid being labelled unbelievers. There is a shift in culture bringing in its wake plenty signs and sounds of Christianity with little substance, but the true worshippers will be known by their fruits.

Let's dig deeper into true worship. Feel free to disagree with me. I'll like to hear your grounds.

When you study creation, something stands out—variety. God loves variety, so much so that no two human beings, not even identical twins, are exactly the same.

If God loves variety, He must also expect it from us. We cannot sing the same songs to Him continually. Some of the praise and worship songs we sing have become so worn they have lost their meaning and value. The Bible says to “Sing unto the Lord a new song” (Psalms 33:3).

The problems with old and battered songs are:

1. We sing them by heart, absentmindedly, or mechanically, and therefore without commitment or passion.

2. We sing them so soullessly they no longer inspire even the singer, let alone God. A worship or praise singing that doesn't inspire the singer will not draw God either. Inspiration draws out the spirit. This is essential because it is only by the spirit that we can commune with God.

3. They dampen our creative essence, and still innovation. Overlaboured songs are not developmental.

4. They don't bring us to new realms of worship and revelation. God is spiritually so vast we need to be rediscovering Him every day. Singing that is only mouth deep, and does not reach the recesses of the spirit, cannot make us contact Him.

5. Old songs are boring even to man. It is like eating the same diet every day.

You see, fresh songs of praise and worship show an eagerness and a hunger to reach Him. New songs do not only refresh our spirits, they also refresh Him. We should strive to sing in unknown tongues. New words of praise and worship help us to discover the hidden dimensions of God. However much we may think we know Him, God remains a vast mystery waiting to be ardently explored.

And you do not have to sing someone else’s song all the time. You should create and sing your own song from time to time. What inspired a person to sing a particular song may not inspire you when you sing that same song, because inspiration is personal and is what reaches to the soul. It is out of laziness that we sing the same songs to God, day after day, when He has given us the ability to craft new songs. In Psalm 96, the injunction is repeated, “Sing a new song to the Lord.”

Now, let's consider some practical tips. When you come to service, come with an eagerness to worship Him. When you come before a dignitary with a present, you come with the best. That is an earthly king! Don't come before God dignified; come to dignify Him. How should we package our worship?

• Never permit your eyes to rove around during worship. Worship time is not the time to admire someone’s attire or fashion. The devil will normally draw your attention to this at such a time. Close your eyes, if necessary, to avoid distraction, and focus entirely on Him.

• Do not be absentminded. Ensure your body language matches the words you're speaking or singing. Don't sing 'lifting up holy hands' and your hands are hanging down limply. Listening to what you're speaking brings life to your worship. Hear the Psalmist in 47:6-7: "Sing out your praises to our God, our King. Yes, sing your highest praises to our King, the King of all the earth. Sing thoughtful praises!”

• Do not move around distractedly during worship. Worship time is no time to seek someone’s attention on something or speak to them. Wait till after worship; allow them give their all to God.

• In group worship let us not sing in discordant voice ranges and tones. Let us not make God grimace! Again, the Psalmist enjoins us to “sing harmoniously” unto the Lord.

• Avoid lousy, disrespectful clapping. If you won’t offer it to a man, don’t offer it to God. When clapping for God, accompany it with words of adoration. I call it adoration clapping. Your hands are the best musical instruments He ever made!

• Finally, realise that not every religious 'piety' is pleasing to God. You cannot do evil and come into His presence to lift up your hands. Isaiah 1:15-16 says, “When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen...wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight.”

Yes, get your sins out of God's sight! I will never forget this quote from a famous pulpit: “You cannot sleep on the laps of Delilah and wake up in Abraham’s bosom.”

Pause at this juncture and prayerfully create a new song for Him in the next few minutes. Sing it with some passion and watch His glory wash over you. He has been waiting for this for a long time.

(This article is Culled from my book Getting to Maximum. To read other articles or get my books, take this link: https://www.chrisekpekurede.com)