Worship is something everybody does. Harold Best, author of Unceasing Worship, makes the argument that everyone worships all the time. The primary difference from one person to the next isn’t whether or not they worship; rather, the difference is in what they worship. Everyone worships all the time; some people worship money, some worship sex, others worship their snowboard, and some people even worship politicians.
As Christians, we worship Creator God of the Bible and within Christian culture there are some generally accepted expressions of worship: Pentecostals raise their hands and do a small jig, Reformers scrunch up their faces and look really serious, Hip-Hoppers bounce, Rockers stare blankly and heel tap, and some people simply breathe deeply and close their eyes in meditation.
Whatever your particular style, Christian worship is our human response to what God is doing in our lives. This means that when God does something or shows us some part of his character or who he is, we respond appropriately.
And Scripture gives us many examples.
If you ever read the book of Psalms, watch for the human response to what God is doing in the life of the Psalmist. One of my favourites is found in Psalm 3.
The context is simple: The writer is stressed out, his enemies surround him, his heart is full of anxiety, and people are gossiping. In the midst of all this, the writer remembers that God is his shield, his protection, and the One who sustains him.
The writer’s response is interesting: his worship, aka his response, is to sleep.
The Psalmist’s response to the provider, protector, and sustaining God is to have a good, long, and refreshing sleep. The stress doesn’t keep him awake and the anxiety doesn’t keep him Googling options. Simply, he trusts God to be who he says he is, and then he knocks out.
Don’t you love this? It’s not a suggestion to be lazy or to catch up on your sleep during church, but sleep can be worship if it is part of our response to what God is doing in our life! Not bad, hey? I wonder what other ways we worship.
Challenge
How do you best respond to God?
What are the unique responses to the goodness of God that you’ve experienced?
Read Psalms, try out some of the expressions of worship found there. Sometimes it’s shouting, writing music, kneeling, lying quietly, standing, and a myriad of other responses!
By Jer Postal | Whistler, Canada