Listen

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth! You made your glory higher than heaven!

From the mouths of nursing babies you have laid a strong foundation because of your foes, in order to stop vengeful enemies.

When I look up at your skies, at what your fingers made— the moon and the stars that you set firmly in place— what are human beings that you think about them; what are human beings that you pay attention to them?

You’ve made them only slightly less than divine, crowning them with glory and grandeur.

You’ve let them rule over your handiwork, putting everything under their feet—
all sheep and all cattle, the wild animals too, the birds in the sky, the fish of the ocean, everything that travels the pathways of the sea.

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!

Psalm 8

Think

Given that most Christian communities build their common life around regular worship opportunities, it is surprising how little time is spent reflecting on the purpose of those events. Why do we worship? Why do we sing? Why do we read the sacred texts? Why do we pray?

At first blush, worship is something we prepare and perform for God. But, like most Godly things, the deeper purpose goes beyond what is obvious.

Worship is God’s gift to us! As the Psalmist says, God pays attention to us and knows what we need. Ironically, what we bring as praise for God is actually a gift that God has designed for us. It satisfies our deepest need. It returns our attention to our Maker, reconnects us to our Source, reminds us how loved we are, and sensitizes us to the movement of the Spirit.

Whatever God may be calling you to do, remember that your first calling is to acknowledge and worship God. And it is in losing yourself in worship that you will find the strength to answer any other calling God has on your life.

Wade Griffith

Pray

God, help me to accept that I am a creature and not the Creator.

Give me the wisdom of a child, so that I will always come running to you, my Parent, my Source, my Redeemer, my Friend.

Amen.

Go

To be saved is to be sent.