“With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the God on high?” (Micah 6.6a) Meditate on this with me for a moment. And then take this home and dwell on it for upcoming worship opportunities. What are you bringing to the worship? There is no section of scripture you can point to that would indicate that the preacher/song leader/elders provide worship for you, the individual. Contrarily, so many prophecies focus on the people of God as a whole- meaning the group of individuals. How will you present yourself to God?
Worship takes on a whole new urgency, even anxiety, when the individual is focused on what they will present to God. Consider that you may not control the song selection, the words spoken in public prayer, or the messages delivered from the pulpit, and yet, you are still tasked with worship. You, the individual. Consider that you stood at the door upon hearing the final ‘amen’ and were tasked with answering to angels about your worship. How many seraphim will shake your hand, look deep into your eyes, and noddingly say, “that was good worship”? Consider an alternative- a cherub with a firm grip also clutches your wrist with another hand. They gaze away, then back at you and whisper, “this is how you worship our God?”. May it never be! What to do? Take Micah’s advice:
“He has told you, O man, what is good: and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6.8) What does that mean? In verse 7, Micah lays out external forms of sacrificing something to God- and that is not what God wants. Your attendance is not worship, your nodding is not worship, your singing is not worship, your ‘amens’ are not worship- at least, not the worship God desires. He wants your heart, all of it, and nothing less. “So, listen to our hearts, hear our spirits sing a song of praise that flows from those You have redeemed. We will use the words we know to tell You what an awesome God You are. But words are not enough to tell you of our love, so listen to our hearts.” What does your heart say during worship? Does it say anything? You, YOU are tasked with worshipping from your heart. May your heart be right before Him.