Find Your Song

Here's the topic sentence for today.

The purpose of worship, is to drill down through all of that other stuff and get hold of that song of gladness and gratitude that's at our core and give voice to it and bring it out so that we can live it.

It is to find that song that's buried down in there under so many things and give it voice.

That's the purpose of worship.

Look, all through scripture, it tells us to worship.

It commands us, worship, worship me.

Jesus is being tempted by the devil, and he says, no, as it is written, worship the Lord, and him only shall you serve.

And it's always there, this command, worship me, worship me, worship me.

You might know, as I do, a skeptic or an atheist.

And I have one in my extended family that I would have a conversation like this with.

And he would say to me, so why would I want to worship a God who tells everybody around him, worship me, worship me, worship me? Like, that's like a king who surrounds himself with sycophants, who are, it's always just there to tell you how great you are.

I said, why would I want to worship a God whose ego is so fragile, who's so insecure, that he says, oh, you gotta worship me, please, just worship me, because, you know, I'm the best.

What kind of God is that, he would say.

And I would say to him, oh man, you don't understand.

God doesn't need our worship.

God doesn't need our worship for him to feel good about himself.

No, worship for us is there partly so the world will know the goodness of God, but more than that, it's for us to know who God is.

The goodness of the God we worship, for us to be in touch with that song of gladness and joy that's down at the core of us, to bring it out.

And that's why we've been given this command to worship because that's how we get in touch with that thing that's down at the core.

Let's look at the scripture, this hundredth song.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.

Serve the Lord with gladness.

Come into his presence with singing.

That's the command.

Worship me, worship me, worship the Lord.