Worship In The Psalms

The Psalms are filled with expressions of worship to God. Here are a few passages that speak of coming before the Lord and giving him honor:

Psalm 5:7

Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house;

with deepest awe I will worship at your Temple.

Psalm 29:2

Give honor to the LORD for the glory of his name.

Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

Psalm 95:6-7

Come, let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the LORD our maker,

for he is our God.

Psalm 99:9

Exalt the LORD our God

and worship at his holy mountain in Jerusalem,

for the LORD our God is holy!

Psalm 100:2

Worship the LORD with gladness.

Come before him, singing with joy.

Psalm 138:2

I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.

I will give thanks to your name

for your unfailing love and faithfulness,

because your promises are backed

by all the honor of your name.

“Worship,” says John MacArthur, “is all that we are, reacting to all that God is.”

But how are we supposed to do this? We come to church and find our mind wandering. We sit at home reading the Bible, and a dozen things on our “to do” list come to mind. Let’s face it. If we were graded according to our attempts at worship during the past month, we would probably be demoted to kindergarten.

But the good news is that the Psalms are user-friendly when it comes to worship. Inside us is a jumble of feelings that the Psalms can help us get out. There is gratitude for what God has done for us and awe as we think about our freedom to come into God’s presence. We also have a sense of inadequacy and sorrow for sins. And then there are some questions that are buried more deeply in our heart: Why isn’t God answering our prayer for our family? Why did God allow this tragedy to occur?

The Psalms help us understand these questions as well—or at least that it is OK to ask them. The Psalms teach us that tears are OK, even anger is OK. Sometimes we are so confused that we are staggering as we come into God’s presence; that’s OK, too. God is big enough to handle that, and the Psalms recognize this. God knows us better than we know ourselves, and nothing we tell him about ourselves will shock him. He wants us to come into his presence just as we are, bringing whatever our thoughts and emotions are. He wants us to lay these before him and simply say, “I love you, Lord.”

In doing this we prepare ourselves to concentrate on him, and that’s when worship really begins.

Just as I am, though tossed about

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

Fightings and fears within, without,

O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

CHARLOTTE ELLIOTT