Skip to main content

The Nature of Worship


The Psalmist compares the songs of the stream to the clapping of our hands in worship to our God Most High.
 





Psalm 98:8  (AMPC)
Let the rivers clap their hands; together let the hills sing for joy.




Isaiah compares the branches of the trees raised with the rustling of their leaves to us raising our hands as  we clap our hands in worship to the Lord God Almighty.




Isaiah 55:12 (AMPC)
12 For you shall go out [from the spiritual exile caused by sin and evil into the homeland] with joy and be led forth [by your Leader, the Lord Himself, and His word] with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.




Isaiah compares the sounds of the hills with the birds happily signing and the branches of the trees with leaves rustling to our worship of our God who sees.



Psalm 47:1 (AMPC)
clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph and songs of joy!




We are to worship with our hands and voice in the worship of our God our provider.




1 Timothy 2:8  (AMPC)
I desire therefore that in every place men should pray, without anger or quarreling or resentment or doubt [in their minds], lifting up holy hands.




M. H. Dennis

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dan Dehaan's Metro Bible Study

In the late 1970s, I attended an interdenominational Bible Study called “the Metro Bible Study” in Metro Atlanta, which began as a Small Group in “Dad” Charles Ellis’ basement. It was taught by Dan Dehaan, and eventually outgrew Dad Ellis’ basement by moving to the Griffin Middle School.  When I first started attending, it had grown to 300 teenagers who meet ever Tuesday night and featured Contemporary Christian Music played by “The Pat Terry Group”.  As the Metro Bible Study continued rapid growth, they eventually moved to the First Baptist Church of Smyrna, Georgia where it peaked around 1200 attendees.  In the summer of 1982, Dan Dehaan died in a plane crash and teacher John Riley took over. Under John Riley, the Bible Study grew to about 1,500 after eventually moving to Mt. Paran Church of God. When I was first invited to the “Metro Bible Study”, I didn’t go to hear Dan Dehaan teach because I didn’t know who he was.  What I went to hear...

Is Your Faith Great?

Great faith respects God, His Word, and His People.  We have a big problem in our society for a lack of respect. Faith shows honor.   Matthew 8:5-13    (ESV) 5  When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion (An Ancient Roman Commander) came forward to him (Jesus), appealing to him,  6  “ Lord , my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.”   The Centurion showed Jesus respect by calling Him Lord.   He didn't tell Jesus what to do, but humbly asked.  The centurion understood that he was in charge as a Roman commander in the physical world, but in the spirit world, Jesus was the commander in the spirit world.  Great faith cannot be separated from great respect.    7  And he said to him,  “I will come and heal him.” If you don't respect Jesus, He will resist you, but if you humble yourself, He will come to your aid (James 4:6).   8  But the cent...

Kinder, Gentler Church Small Groups

On more than one occasion, my family has changed Churches because we haven't been able to find a small group that we liked in the time slot that we liked it. Earlier in our marriage, we wanted to attend both Church and a Small Group before 11:00 A. M. Because we liked to get up at the same time on Sundays as the weekdays, we preferred going to Church earlier.  If we couldn't find a quality early Small Group, we'd even look for one at another Church to meet our needs and change Churches.  The Church might have had a great Small Group at a latter time, but that didn't meet our needs because we wanted to attend earlier.  We'd still change. A problem that we have with Small Groups is that some Churches shrink them too small.  Sunday morning Small Groups are usually open, which means that they do not require a commitment to attend.  Therefore, people not regularly coming is a problem. If the Church shrinks them to 8 to 12, this means o...