Psalm 150 - Worship with the Senses

Psalm 150
¹ Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens!
² Praise him for his mighty deeds;
    praise him according to his excellent greatness!

³ Praise him with trumpet sound;
    praise him with lute and harp!
⁴ Praise him with tambourine and dance;
    praise him with strings and pipe!
⁵ Praise him with sounding cymbals;
    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

Message: Worship with the Senses

Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

I go back to the words of Russ Taff, though I'm sure others have said this, but he said, "Music has a way of communicating to us like nothing us can." It remains a powerful form of communication and as such, it has always been an important part of worship. With it we can convey great truths about God, our lives, and how the two connect.

Worship should encourage other forms of worship, like giving and the teaching of God's word. All the focus should be on Him and what we glean from Him, not on us, and what makes us feel good. Just as music can be a good thing, it can also hinder us. Once again, I appreciate the structure of our service at church and taking the time to adore God.

Last Sunday we began the service with the hymn, Prepare the Way, O Zion and this a hymn giving glory to God. Zion is a synonym for Jerusalem and it is a call to God's people to prepare our hearts and minds for the glory of Christ who came to us in God's most holy name. Then we sang, Immortal, Invisible, another song of praise to God: Great Father of Father, pure Father of Light, thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight, all praise we would render. 

Promise: The sights, smells, sounds, tastes and feel of our worship services send a message to worshipers. We need to make sure it is always a biblical one.