Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
The Blessings of a Worshipping Community
“Better is one day in your courts, than a thousand elsewhere…” (84:10)
As God’s children, it is our natural desire to praise, honor, and worship Him for everything that He does for us in our lives. This is highlighted in Psalm 84:2 as the psalmist ‘yearns’ and even ‘faints’ for the courts of the Lord. We want to praise and worship the Lord God for being our Creator, our Sustainer, and our Provider and the only true comfort and strength guiding us through all the situations we experience in our lives. The problem in today’s context is that we become so busy with our daily responsibilities of family, school, work, etc… that this important and blessed experience of worshipping God in spirit and in truth loses its place and priority. Psalms 84 reminds us what a true blessing it is to worship our Lord and to be in His presence, especially in a worshipping community. Why wouldn’t we want to experience this blessing?
“Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you” (Psalm 84:4). Through our words, songs, and prayers we are focusing on God and submitting to Him the praise and honor He is worthy of. The plurality of this verse highlights the importance of the community aspect of worship. The blessings of worship are experienced when His children come together and collectively submit prayers and praise not only for what He has done in our lives as individuals, but what He has done through us a worshipping community.
“Better is one day in your courts, than a thousand elsewhere…” (Psalms 84:10) Out of seven days in the week, we have the opportunity to come together at least one day into the house of the Lord and experience the blessings being part of a worshipping community, a community whose focus is on the Lord through worship and experiences the blessings of the Lord (Psalm 84:11). As the psalmist highlighted, it’s better to have the opportunity to have one day in the Lord’s house then being elsewhere. How many of us really take advantage of the opportunity that God has provided us to be able to be part of a worshipping community? During this lent time, let us examine whether we are taking advantage of opportunity that God is providing us to experience His blessings as part of a worshipping community and in turn be a blessing to those around us.
Prayer:
Lord, help us to experience the blessings of a worshipping community and share those blessing with those around us. Amen
Ashley & Liza George, St. Peter’s MTC, NJ