Tag Archives: All creation praises God

Living worship

 

What do you think of when you think about worship? Is it going to a church building where there is an organized sequence of songs, offering, and message? Is it a time for exuberant joy or quiet meditation, or both? Or does worship seem to you to be primarily a social event where friends gather? I’ve heard some say, “I can worship God as well in the woods or the beach as I can in church.” True enough, but when we are immersed in the beauty of God’s creation, is worshipping God what flows from our heart? I wonder, if we were to be very quiet and listen intently, would we be able to hear all creation worshipping God? According to the Word of God, even if we were not to worship him, the rest of his creation will continue to praise him:

All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name. Psalm 66:4

The heavens declare the glory of God,  the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” Revelation 5:13

The Host of heaven worships you. Nehemiah 9:6

For you will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12

You make the sunrise and the sunset shout for joy. Psalm 65:8

Everything God created worships him… all the time. Creation’s worship occurs without concerted effort, without worry for what time passes. It springs spontaneously from the nature of their created being. The flower blooms.The heavens declare God’s majesty and glory. Though it may be inaudible to our ears, can you perceive mountains bursting into song? Can you fathom trees clapping before God as their leaves rustle in the wind? Even inanimate rocks are able to cry out to God. (Luke 19:40) Even if no one told me about Jesus, I would have no excuse for not knowing God, because God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” Romans 1:20  God is revealed in nature.

Nature reveals the glory of God by being what it was created to be and doing what it was created to do.

How much more should it be with us, whom he created as “very good,” whom he endowed with such incredible and sophisticated power for reasoning and communicating. If lesser beings and even rocks cry out continually to God, proclaiming the wonder of his majesty, shouldn’t we do so even more?

Have you ever wondered what it means to pray (worship) without ceasing? (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Does it mean to quit your job and abandon your family and go live in silence in a remote monastery? Or does it simply mean to be aware of and acknowledge who God is and who you are in his sight? Acknowledging God focuses on his attributes, who he is…his power and might, his wisdom and understanding, his holy and just heart, his faithfulness and his lavish love, and his amazing grace that freely falls undeservedly upon us.

We worship God continually by looking for his hand moving in the times of plenty and joy and also in the times of scarcity, sorrow, and pain. We seek him first in our problems, we thank him for revealing hidden blessings throughout our day, and we let his Spirit truly and utterly transform us and shape us into his image. We worship God by letting a conversation linger longer because God is in it. Our worship reflects the priorities we set and the goals we seek, and  how we see our lives as an extension of his magnificent and benevolent plan of redemption.

Just as nature worships and praises God, so it is our nature to worship and praise him too. May your day be filled with the wonder of God’s unending love and amazing grace.