Worthy of Our Praise
Daily Reading: Genesis 33, Psalm 33, Mark 5, Proverbs 2
Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
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.
For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.
Psalm 33:1-5
It is fitting and upright to praise him.
My days simply go better when I carve out time for worship.
There is a great deal of power in slowing down, remembering the amazing blessings that God has put into our lives over the years, and meditating on the full scope of his creation. When we take a step back from our hectic day to day lives and consider the entirety of the universe, the miracle of life, and the beauty of nature; it is impossible to not be overwhelmed by the wonder of God.
Taking this time always helps me to put things into perspective. The stressors in my life, as real as they are, shrink back to an appropriate size when my heart is in a posture of worship.
It is fitting and upright to praise him.
There have been times in my life when I have fiercely guarded personal private worship time every morning as a part of my morning routine. It is amazing how life giving this daily rhythm can be.
However, I have fallen away from this rhythm over the last several years.
This has been a great year so far for me when it comes to prioritizing my relationship with Jesus. Spending time in the word on a daily basis, guarding time for prayer, and writing every single day has drawn me much closer to the Father than all last year. And yet for some reason, worship has not made its way into the picture yet outside of Sundays.
At some point in the last several years I had replaced worship time with listening to worship music while going about my morning. And they are simply not the same. At least, not for me.
I was reflecting on that this morning when reading Psalm 33. This used to be my absolute favorite part of the morning. It was a pillar of my relationship with God. I would put on worship music, head down to the basement and spend time praising God. Praying, reading my identity statement, and lifting my voice to the Lord.
What happened?
I had still been spending time with God each morning in other ways, so it was not a matter of “not having the time”. I still love worship, so it was not a lack of desire. So, how did I drift away from this spiritual rhythm?
It dawned on me this morning when asking this question, that the answer was actually simple.
We remodeled a portion of our basement to add a bedroom a few years back to accommodate having four kids.
That’s it.
It was simply a practical matter of the physical space in our basement changing.
I began to worry that I might wake up my daughter earlier than she needed to by walking down the stairs early in the morning. It wasn’t the worship itself I was worried about, because I have a space in the back part of the basement and the sound shouldn’t carry.
I was just worried about getting there.
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
1 Peter 5:8
The enemy had no interest in me guarding my time for personal private worship, and all it took to throw me off was the subtle suggestion whispered in my mind: “You don’t want to wake Emma up, do you? You could probably just throw in your AirPods and listen to worship music today.”
Several years later…
When it comes to your relationship with Jesus, what daily rhythm is that for you? What habit existed previously, you know the fruit in your life that comes from it, and yet for some reason you have fallen away from it?
Perhaps it is prayer, time in the word, worship, prioritizing time with fellow believers, time in nature that makes you appreciate the wonder of God, or something else.
Satan doesn’t need to turn believers into atheists overnight. That would be too hard in most cases.
However, hitting us with logical reasons to fall away from spiritual rhythms that keep us in sync with God…now that is far easier.
Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
This year, let’s do battle with the excuses that get in our way and guard these beautiful moments with God.
He truly is worthy of our praise.
Daily Reflection & Dialogue
What daily rhythm existed previously for you that was life giving and drew you closer to God, and yet for some reason you have fallen away from?
