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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Private Worship

Grand Canyon

"But I will sing of thy power; yea I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble." Psalm 59:16

I am so thankful for the opportunity I have every week to join together with other believers to worship the Lord at His house. Each week I get to sing, give, and hear preaching because of and for my great God. When I come to public worship, I come to a gathering of believers whose lives have been changed by Jesus Christ, and I come for the purpose of joining them in pointing every thought to the One who alone is worthy of praise.

But, unfortunately, sometimes I can come to church empty. For one reason or another, when I sing, listen to the preaching, or give to the Lord, if I'm not careful, I do it out of a heart of duty or outward constraint, not from the overflow of a heart that is amazed by the greatness and goodness of my God.

When I do this, sometimes it is because of a lack of personal, private worship. This of course is not the only reason. Sometimes I am just plain distracted. But many times the problem in public worship is the absence of private worship. You or I come to a church service with hearts that are empty and haven't gazed upon our God through private devotions in a long time. We come to perform acts that are merely outward, not motivated by an inward desire to give honor to the One whose character has personally affected us.

Singing about God's greatness without having seen it personally is like me telling someone about how awesome the pyramids are to see in person, when I've never gone to Egypt to see them. I've seen pictures. I know that they are there, but I've never experienced their grandeur in person.

On the other hand, I've been to the grand canyon. I've seen its deep bottom, and driven along its expansive lengths. I've seen it's beautiful color. Let me tell you, pictures don't do it justice! You've never truly experienced the Grand Canyon until you've been there yourself!

That's how it is in the Christian life. Have you personally gazed upon God's holiness, His love, His grace, His justice, or His mercy today, this week, this month, or even this year? Is there a hollowness in your heart because you haven't personally spent time with Him? If we seek to do before men what we haven't done before God, we are like hollow robots trying to do something that doesn't truly flow from our hearts.

Do you hear about God and think it's boring? Do you hear the Word preached and wonder why the preacher is so excited about the truth he's preaching but don't understand how it applies to you? Do you struggle to praise Him? Do you simply endure church? Then the most important question you can ask yourself is, "Have I seen Him personally for myself?" Have you seen His majesty in your quiet time? Have you felt His voice calm your burdened heart with His loving Words? Have you privately stood in awe of this grace that would stoop down to redeem defiant sinners like you and me? Have you gazed at your God privately?

Sincere public worship always follows private worship. If you are struggling with just "doing church," spend some time looking at His character in the Psalms. Stand in awe of who He is. Take a truth that reveals His character and spend time thinking about that truth, and turn the truth into praise from your heart to Him. Allow God's character to change you. It will change your public worship.

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