Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” Singing as worship is also found in Ephesians 5:19, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. So we see that singing praises and playing instruments were also appropriate expressions of worship. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: ‘He is good his love endures forever.’ Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud” (2 Chronicles 5:13). “The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD.
We’ve already seen the command to clap our hands and shout to the Lord. In examining specific acts of worship in the Scriptures, we see there are a variety of expressions and postures. What we need to ascertain is if those expressions, or indeed if any specified expression, is an actual requirement for worship. Having these biblical precedents, we can safely conclude that both of those expressions can be an act of worship. In 1 Timothy 2:8, we read, “I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.” The emphasis of this verse is the attitude of the heart however, we see that lifting hands is an appropriate posture for prayer and worship. Psalms 47:1 says, “Clap your hands, all you nations shout to God with cries of joy.” In this instance, both clapping and shouting out joyful worship to God are urged. There is biblical precedent for both the lifting of hands and the clapping of hands as an act of worship. Trusting in God to provide all we require for the journey ahead.Scripture commands that we worship God, that we exalt His name and offer Him our praise. In these uncertain and anxious days, perhaps we all need to remember where these faith journeys of ours begin: We trust God, our maker, to make lives of love and service possible in the midst of disasters and catastrophes. We trust the LORD with our lives, and livelihoods. We trust in The One, with whom nothing will be impossible. We look to the hills…to the horizon…to the sky…and we rely on “the maker of heaven and earth,” the Holy One worthy of our trust.
How do we manage our anxiety? How do we stoke the fires of hope within us, but also keep them at bay so we can remain in the present moment? How do we give ourselves the care we need while keeping a hand out to serve others? And while we all await being able to return to something “normal,” we also know that this crisis will not end overnight, and many millions of people just in our own country will continue to suffer the fallout from all this for years to come. There is news of vaccines on the horizon, and the hope of restoring parts of life we have all lived too long without.
Ilift church full#
We are coming up on a full year of living through this pandemic. And from the solid rock of trust in the maker of heaven and earth…we step out into the wild, unpredictable journey of faith. The first task of any faith journey is learning to trust in God for all things. Keeping, feeding, watering, redeeming, healing, surviving, casting out, calling, sending…and it’s always good news for everyone with ears to hear.
God does all of that, and more, for each of us every single day. Jesus’ disciples did not trust that God would help them heal the sick, survive stormy seas, or cast out demons. Jonah did not trust that God’s redemption of Nineveh could be “good news” for his own people. The freed Hebrew People did not trust that God would feed and water them in the desert.
Ilift church how to#
It seems that the first step of the journey of faith for everyone in every story throughout the entire Bible is to learn how to place trust in God, above and beyond all else.Īdam and Eve did not trust that God had good reasons for keeping them away from a certain tree.
Who do you trust? Why? What do you do when trust is broken? When you discover how fragile trust can be…how do you discern who to trust again? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from?
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