I lift my eyes
to the mountains
In times of community
worship there are two very powerful things that happen in our midst:
Our attention and praise
ascends vertically as we glorify God;
Our voices and hearts
connect horizontally as we do it together.
I love that Psalm 121 is
titled "A song of ascents." It's a song of lifting, of rising above.
A song of turning our eyes up, searching higher—believing that our ultimate
help and hope comes from a God who sits on the highest throne.
Read through this peaceful
and encouraging Psalm.
Psalm
121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches
over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will
keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Our
worship is not meant to be a prelude to a sermon, or a buffer of time for
people to find their seats on Sundays. Worshiping together through song
connects us more deeply with those worshiping around us. It lifts our spirits
above our current circumstances, and allows us to find peace in the truths of
God that have always been and will always remain true.
When I
worship, I feel that I come to understand the greater purpose of my existence.
I gain perspective.
I can see the finish line and feel its hope.
Amidst the
chaos of life I can still somehow understand the end goal, and the words of
these worship songs take me on a journey of embracing the past, present and
future of God's redemption story; the words we worship with also allow me the
peace and comfort I need to rise above and push through my circumstances during my moments of
trial or weakness.
As we experience the vertical connection of worshiping the Lord and lifting our eyes
above our circumstances, we also experience the horizontal connection of our community, our teammates in the pews, our family of believers – the ones standing side by side, united and cheering together with the same words of hope.
There is power and strength in numbers, volume and unity.
Let's continue lifting our eyes to the Lord and worshiping and cheering together like we are just about to cross that finish line.
Jamie
No comments:
Post a Comment