Worship | Daily Devotional

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. 

Psalm 27:4

In our current blog series we are considering the topic of purpose. Purpose is essential to who we are as humans. We are all asking the question in different ways, “What on earth am I here for?” This topic is especially relevant in our current climate because so many people have lost their sense of purpose because of coronavirus. We’ve lost jobs, hobbies, and relational connections, which causes us to “wait this thing out” so we can get back to our purpose. 

The good news is that even while we wait, we can experience God’s purpose for our lives. In Psalm 27, David shows us a sense of purpose that coronavirus can't take away. David is a man on a mission, stating something he wants to spend “all the days of his life” doing. He has a clear goal that he is seeking after: to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. 

What if you took the extra time during this quarantine and re-purposed it to fix your eyes on the most beautiful sight in the universe--God? 

What we are talking about here is worship. We worship when we recognize God as he truly is and respond with wonder and amazement. This is not only a purpose we could give ourselves to, but the very purpose for which we were created. It is a gift to be able to worship with other believers in God’s temple, the church assembled, and one we are right to dearly miss during this time. However, we don't have to wait for the church to reassemble in order to experience what David did. We can behold the beauty of the Lord in the privacy of our home, or anywhere for that matter. 

For most, the call to worship God is quite clear, but what does it look like to worship God on our own?

1.) Ask.

David begins this psalm by asking of the Lord. When we begin worshipping, our minds are often distracted and our hearts are often dull. We need the illuminating work of God’s Spirit to show us more than just words on a page or lyrics in a song. We need his Spirit to open our eyes to see his beauty. As you begin to worship, ask God to reveal himself to you. 

2.) Seek.

We all suffer from spiritual attention deficit disorder. If we don't sense God’s nearness quickly, we quit and go find something easier to entertain us. But the splendor of God’s majesty isn’t usually stumbled upon in our worship; it is chased after. There is a reason David uses the word “seek.” In order for us to experience God’s beauty as David describes, we have to search it out like treasure. Seeking means having patience, taking extended time, and applying our hearts and minds diligently to the act of worship. As we do this, James 4:8 gives us a wonderful promise: “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” Are you willing to draw near with patience and persistence in your time of worship? 

3.) Inquire.

To inquire is to investigate, ask questions of, to seek further understanding. David understood that in order to see God as beautiful, he needed to do more than simply open the doors of the temple. He needed to investigate the God dwelling within it. We inquire of God by searching him out in his word, slowly reading passages about his nature and character all the while asking the Spirit for more illumination. After reading, it can be helpful to write out what you discover about God and to pray it back to him in praise and even song for what he has revealed. 

Where can you block out some time this week to purposefully worship? Don't wait until the church can gather again and don't just settle for Netflix in the meantime. You were made to behold God’s glory and there is nothing about quarantine that can keep you from doing just that.