DAVID'S EMAIL BIBLE STUDY:
A. BACKGROUND
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the Psalms were written to praise God and acted as inspiration and direction for worship in ancient Israel. This fall we’ve looked at Psalms that describe a good person (Ps. 1 and 8), that describe the right spirit for worship (Ps. 150), and that describe the right preparation for worship (Ps. 24 and 15). To summarize, a good person avoids negative influences and follows God’s ways. The worshipful person embraces God wholeheartedly; and with a daily life focused like lasers on obeying God’s rules, almost to the point of perfection. Perfect isn’t easy. But it is a worthy goal.
B. TODAY
... Various verses from Psalms about being in worship. “I was glad when they said, ‘let us go to the house of the Lord’ (Ps. 122:1) ... I love the House where You live where Your glory dwells (26:8)... blessed are those who dwell in Your house (84:4) ... .come, let us bow down and worship, let us kneel before the Lord our maker (95:6)... worship God in the beauty of holiness (96:9)... better is one day in Your courts (Lord) than 1,000 days elsewhere (84:10)... one thing I ask, that I may dwell in the House of the Lord forever, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to seek him in the temple (27:4).
C. SUMMARY.
This collection of verses expresses great delight just to be in church, in our terms. In ancient Israel worship was centered in the Temple at Jerusalem. Right there was the presence of God in the “Holy of Holies”. Human beings know intellectually, even biblically, that God is everywhere. But most of us know and enjoy the idea of a place where we can meet God. So those verses emphasize the utter joy of going to your favorite place of worship. Worship is supposed to be, can be, the highlight of your week.
D. KEY POINTS
1.
But there’s NOTHING there!! Judaism, like Greenfield Hill Church, does not have images of God. The 10 Commandments forbid it. Our little white box sanctuary has almost nothing. Yet the Psalmist invites us to “worship God in the beauty of holiness... to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.” But if there is nothing physically there, nothing to be seen or touched, what are we gazing upon? What is so beautiful? Then, as now, it is the reality of being together, with God and with one another, in a sacred (means “set apart”) place meant specifically to be together, with God and with another. God is the beauty. We, created in God’s images, mirror that beauty. Together we are beautiful. And the place where it happens is all the more beautiful.
2.
WHY go to CHURCH? Why have a church building? As said in my summary, most humans seem to like and/or need a sense of place, a location. We still call owning a home “the American dream”. We want “a seat at the table”. Heck, we all have a GPS so we can know the exact location of anything. The old joke about real estate is that it’s all about location, location, location. So, when the Bible tells us to “worship God in spirit”, and that the Kingdom of God is within us, it also points us to ta place and a people and an experience of collective worship. The challenge of worship is to create an experience that heightens your sense of God, not block it or overwhelm it. Worship, not performance or entertainment. We are not the Rockettes nor a rock concert. Nevertheless, we are in competition with a million other options for your time and interest. Ancient worship, and good worship now, must be helpful, pleasing, inspiring. Good church is good worship that works.
3.
WHY do we DO what we do? At my four in-person Bible Studies on this topic we went through our typical Sunday bulletin item by item. Thousands of years of human worship have led to fairly common agreement on the key elements. Every religion I have experience or studied had these elements: scripture (some collection of wisdom from on high), prayer (talking with God), offering (gratitude to God), sermon (an explanation and application of the scripture), blessing (at the end to send you back into the world), invocation/coming together prayer (at the beginning to welcome God and worshipper for this time together, focused). And what about that verse to “bow down... and kneel”? Some churches do, some don’t. But the idea is still worth it. Bowing and kneeling are humbling signs of respect. It’s the same as wearing your “Sunday Best”. You’re in God’s house. It is special.
