In Psalm 50, the psalmist discusses worshipping God in spirit and in truth and worshipping God from the heart and not out of formality or obligation. Being authentic in your worship is incredibly important. God knows everything about you and sees you as you really are. If your heart is not in the right place when you are worshipping him, he will most certainly know it. There have been many times as a worship leader that I have had to take a step back and make sure my heart was in the right place before I lead the congregation in worship. There were also times when I didn’t take the time to prepare my heart, and those days, my worshipping of God felt contrived and untruthful. Worshipping God should first begin with the heart, making sure there is nothing in the way or nothing to prevent you from worshipping God the way you should and the way he deserves to be worshipped. Sin and distractions are two things that can get in the way of authentic worship. If you are more concerned with how someone else is worshipping around you or what type of music is being played during worship rather than the whole reason for the music in the first place, you may want to take a step back and make sure your heart is in the right place before you try to worship God. This is one way we can be distracted. Formality is what I’m talking about. I am also talking about self-catered worship. “We didn’t do this hymn, so I can’t worship” Or “That’s such an old song, how can I worship God with that?” I know I’ll probably step on some toes with that one. As someone who has not only lead worship but has also served on a worship committee designed to “help” the Worship Pastor pick appropriate music to worship God with, I just can’t help but to bring up the question, When did worship become about us and what we want not about God and what he deserves? If a song brings you into the presence of God and allows you to worship him like he deserves, then well, is there anything wrong with that song? I think not. When we concern ourselves with the formality of worship, we miss the point and the heart of worship – God. Second, If you have something in your life that is not honoring to God, how can you worship him like he deserves? If you are living your life far away from God, Monday through Saturday and come into church on Sunday and try to worship God, how does that work out for you? I mean, does it? I know from my very own experience if I had unconfessed sin in my heart, there was no way I could worship God authentically. I was lying to myself and I was lying to God until I confessed the sin separating me from authentically approaching his throne and giving him the worship he is due. When we try to worship God, but keep the unconfessed sin in our hearts to merely keep up appearances, we are only doing ourselves more harm in the long run. Ultimately, God is the only one that knows the condition of your heart. He knows whether or not your worship is authentic. He wants your heart in worship, nothing else. What really helps me to keep my focus on God while I am worshipping is to think about everything that he has done for me - and he has done a lot. I am so thankful for all that he has done and I would be totally lost without Him. When is the last time you took some time to really think about everything that God has done for you? If you’ve never thought about it, or haven’t thought about it in a while, take some time to focus on that. Then, making sure there are no distractions or sin in your life, take some time to worship God like he deserves and you don’t have to wait until Sunday! You can worship Him right now!
“Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory… But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God” (Psalm 50: 14, 23)
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