Better is One Day in Your Courts Than A Thousand Elsewhere!
Sometimes I hear people say, "I didn't get anything out of worship today!" Granted some worship services are more inspiring than others. But I think it also reveals a "consumer mindset" that says worship is all about me getting my needs meet. As we read Psalm 84, we see the psalmist's desire to be in the courts of the living God. In fact, his soul yearns and faints to be in God's presence. Finally, he says something that is captured in one of the most popular contemporary praise songs in the last 10 years, "Better is one day in Your courts, than a thousand elsewhere!"
The idea is not so much that we come to get something out of worship, but we come to meet God in worship. And guess what? He shows up every time when we worship in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And some of it i think is our attitude toward worship. Do we prepare ourselves to meet the holy and living God? Jesus promised that wherever two or three are gathered, He is there with us! So it is not really about the number of people in worship, but the heart of the worshiper. As he sings, "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere."
Some people worship once or twice a month. I say this not to make people feel guilty or ashamed, but to help us all to realize it is not about church attendance, but our need to worship God each week. This is not in a legalistic sense, but a rhythm for our lives. There are times I have missed worship, and i feel something is missing that week. Of course, we can worship God anytime, anywhere. But God has commanded us to set one day aside a week to worship him, hear his Word, and come to the table to experience His presence and forgiveness through Holy Communion. There was a time when our church celebrated communion every other week, but then we decided to offer it weekly. Why? Because if Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine, why would not offer it every time we gather. When Jesus instituted the Lord's supper with his disciple he said, "Do this in remembrance of me!" It seems that this is more of command, than optional.
Worship is about remembering what God has done, experiencing him in the present, and looking forward to one day being in His courts forever. I pray that my attitude would be less about, "going to get something out of the worship service", but that I would long to be in the courts of the living God!
Psalm 84
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.[c]
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[d]
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
9 Look on our shield,[e] O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
12 Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
1 Kings 6:1-4
Solomon Builds the Temple
6 In the four hundred and eightieth[a] year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.
2 The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.[b] 3 The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,[c] and projected ten cubits[d] from the front of the temple. 4 He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls.
1 Kings 6:21-22
21 Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.
1 Corinthians 3:10-23
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”[a]; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”[b] 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas[c] or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
The idea is not so much that we come to get something out of worship, but we come to meet God in worship. And guess what? He shows up every time when we worship in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And some of it i think is our attitude toward worship. Do we prepare ourselves to meet the holy and living God? Jesus promised that wherever two or three are gathered, He is there with us! So it is not really about the number of people in worship, but the heart of the worshiper. As he sings, "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere."
Some people worship once or twice a month. I say this not to make people feel guilty or ashamed, but to help us all to realize it is not about church attendance, but our need to worship God each week. This is not in a legalistic sense, but a rhythm for our lives. There are times I have missed worship, and i feel something is missing that week. Of course, we can worship God anytime, anywhere. But God has commanded us to set one day aside a week to worship him, hear his Word, and come to the table to experience His presence and forgiveness through Holy Communion. There was a time when our church celebrated communion every other week, but then we decided to offer it weekly. Why? Because if Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine, why would not offer it every time we gather. When Jesus instituted the Lord's supper with his disciple he said, "Do this in remembrance of me!" It seems that this is more of command, than optional.
Worship is about remembering what God has done, experiencing him in the present, and looking forward to one day being in His courts forever. I pray that my attitude would be less about, "going to get something out of the worship service", but that I would long to be in the courts of the living God!
Psalm 84
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.[c]
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[d]
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
9 Look on our shield,[e] O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
12 Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
1 Kings 6:1-4
Solomon Builds the Temple
6 In the four hundred and eightieth[a] year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.
2 The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.[b] 3 The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,[c] and projected ten cubits[d] from the front of the temple. 4 He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls.
1 Kings 6:21-22
21 Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.
1 Corinthians 3:10-23
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”[a]; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”[b] 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas[c] or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
Comments
Post a Comment