Note: I wrote the following post several years ago. At that time I only had around 1,000 readers, so most of you have not seen this. It is well worth your time today – Derek

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him: the Lord is his name.

Monsell, John S. B.

I have been thinking about why I enjoy Sunday mornings at church so much. But it’s much more than “enjoy,” worship satisfies.

What I have concluded is that church nourishes me in a fundamental way. In other words, worship achieves the same effect as a lungful of pure air, or cool water when I’m thirsty, or a good meal when I’m hungry. Worship satisfies an essential need, one that is built into the foundation of our creation as a human creatures.

In a sense, I am incomplete to the extent that I do not participate in worship, and I am filled up when I do. Worship is a natural requirement of the soul, not something supplemental, added on, optional, or contrived.

Sometimes though, and probably because of a misplaced sense of pride, I hesitate, I baulk:

• When I think about being instructed by scripture to worship God (even though, time and again, we are so instructed);
• When I approach worship from the viewpoint that God is intrinsically worthy of veneration and adulation, simply by virtue of the fact that God is God (but of course, I have to acknowledge that God is worthy);
• When I feel in some way obligated to bow down and worship (although, fact is I am obligated; we all are);
• Or because I simply feel uncomfortable about coming to God on my knees, in humility, demonstrating deference (and of course I definitely should come that way, much more than I do).

Nourishment 

But then I remember that worship nourishes me; worship fills me up. Worship does not diminish, or empty; worship does not tap me out in order to pump up God – in fact worship achieves quite the opposite. So my concerns, my prideful stumbling blocks, turn out not only to be wrong but to lead me in absolutely the opposite direction from what I need!

Here is the paradox:

• Humbling myself before God – – – turns out to lift me up.
• Showing up at church and raising my hands in praise to God – – – serves just as much to advance me as a being of worth.
• Ascribing all the glory to Jesus – – – brings nothing but affirmation and meaning to my own life.

When we worship, we both glorify the Creator and affirm the creation.

This is what I need to remember, every single Sunday. This is why we worship, and this is why it is ultimately self-defeating when we choose to stay away – DEREK

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
 Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
 For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Psalm 100