Delight Yourself in the Lord Devotionals

It's Not For Him - Psalm 45

God is not like any man or woman on earth. God does not need praise and worship. God doesn't need to be boosted up in order to feel good about Himself and what He's done. He doesn't need us telling Him what great work He's doing in our lives. He doesn't even need our thanks for His salvation.

Worship is not for Him...it's for us.

Worship, whether in spoken words, in song, or in giving, is not so that the Lord can receive accolades and be pumped up. Worship is to encourage us as His followers. Worship frees us up to hear from Him. Praise focuses our mind on Him and His goodness and helps us see our issues and problems in light of the wonder of who He is.

This is why we need to worship Jesus even on our worst days, even when we cannot feel Him near us, when we're struggling with doubt or sin...we need to worship Him. Praise is our expressing warm approval or admiration of Jesus. Worship is the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for Jesus.

Many Christians scratch the surface of praise and never enter into or experience worship. This world clogs our receptors with distractions and busyness, leading us to a place where going deep into worship is not allowed. We want to make sure we are out of church on time and giving Holy Spirit free reign to come and fall and fill us with holy wonder and awesome reverence and call us to enter into worship messes with that timetable.

Do you live a life of praise without worship? Do you want to go deeper? Remember that worship isn't for God, it's for us. I can recall a time when I was struggle with a very selfish decision. On one hand, I could do what I selfishly wanted to do and on the other, I could do what was the right and loving thing to do. As I struggled with my flesh at that moment, I could hear God whisper, "Worship," softly to me over and over again. I kept responding that I didn't want to worship until I finally said, "Fine!"

I worshiped and the answer, which I'm sure you all could plainly see based on the wording above, was clearly defined for me in a way that I could accept it in my selfish state of mind. It was only through worship that Jesus was able to break through my stubborn will and speak to me in a way that I would respond.

Do you want to leap into the water and worship the Lord? Start by reading the Psalms. David wrote many wonderful Psalms that help us develop our love language for the Lord. Eventually, you'll see that you begin to speak directly from your heart as you open yourself up to worship Him. Worship must be vocal, not silent. Lift your voice and worship Him with your words and with songs!

If you find worshiping aloud to be awkward, take some time in your house, prayer closet, or car to start your life of worship. You need to break the mute spirit that would keep you from shouting worship to Jesus Christ. Recall that Jesus told the disciples that if the people were quieted in their worship, the rocks would cry out. (Luke 19:20)

Don't let the rocks out-praise you! Begin your life of worship now!

My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my psalm to the King. My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer. - Psalm 45:1, AMP

Read all of Psalm 45, Amplified Version, here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+45&version=AMP