We read in 1 Samuel 13:14 that “the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people. That man was David. Scripture tells us in John 4:23 “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. Yes, the Father is seeking worshipers who are like David—a heart for worship. We know from these two passages of Scripture that God seeks our worship—where we abandon our lives and worship Him wholeheartedly.
It’s so interesting to read through the Psalms and see the variety of ways in which David worshiped. When we pause to ask ourselves what we are doing during our worship times today, we are often faced with several questions.
How do we worship?
How should we express our worship?
What is God’s desire for our worship?
The Psalms give us nine different expressions of worship. These expressions capture David’s desire to worship the Lord wholeheartedly and without reservation. We are very familiar with the expressions however we fail to practice them in our personal and gathered times of worship for one reason or another. Sometimes it’s due to our lack of connection to Him. Other times it’s pride which keeps us from totally surrendering our heart and mind to Him. And sometimes it’s fear of what others may think about us.
What can we learn from David? He not only practiced these expressions regularly, he didn’t really care what others thought about it. Even his own wife thought he was crazy and yet, God thought enough of it to call him “a man after His own heart”.
Listed below are the nine expressions of worship that we will practice this week . They can be broken down further into three physical expressions.
Our Voices
Speaking Read Psalm 34:1 “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always
be on my lips.”
Shouting Read Psalm 27:6 “Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround
me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will
sing and make music to the Lord.”
Singing Read Psalm 47:6 “Sing praises to God, sing praises to our King, sing praises.”
Our Posture
Bowing Read Psalm 95:6 “Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before
the Lord our Maker.”
Standing Read Psalm 119:120 “My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand
in awe of your laws.”
Dancing Read Psalm 149:3 “Let them praise his name with dancing and make
music to him with tambourine and harp.”
Our Hands
Playing Instruments Read Psalm 33:2, 3 “Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him
on the ten stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully,
and shout for joy.”
Read Psalm 150 also.
Clapping Read Psalm 47:1 “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God
with cries of joy.”
Lifting Hands Read Psalm 63:4 “I will praise you as long as I live, and in your
name I will lift up my hands.”
So why practice this? We know it, right? Yet, we fail to exercise all these in public worship. David used these expressions because he wanted to worship God with his entire being. His heart was to worship the Lord with everything he had, and he held nothing back in his worship. He wanted to share with us his heart and desire to worship, and he wanted us to enjoy pleasing the Lord through God’s creation…our bodies and souls.
Our desire is to seek the Lord in these expressions this week as we navigate our expression in worship.
Move on to this week’s worship practice, Expression in Worship >
