All In (2) Passion of Worship

We are natural worshipers, we know how to worship our idols passionately (imagine how you will behave in the concert of your favorite k-pop band). However, our passion tends to dissipate when we worship God. We need to avoid worshiping God in an attitude that is not pleasing to him. 2 Samuel 6 shows us two worship attitudes that are not pleasing to God:

• Worship without reverence: David and Uzzah moved the ark of covenant without following God’s instructions.
• Worship as a passive spectator commenting on other worshippers’ behaviors: Michal despised David’s unkingly worship without personally participating in the worship.

Despite David’s initial failure to worship God according to God’s expectations, he repented and danced before the ark of the Lord with all his might. The key to rekindle a passion to worship is that David remembered what God did to him and who God is. 

• God chose David to be king of Israel, even when David’s father did not see much potential in David.
• God faithfully protected David for 20 years until David finally became king over all Israel.
• David realized that God is the true king who is sovereign over all nations, and his power to rule Israel comes from God. 

The powerful and sovereign God continues to pursue us today, God comes in the person of Jesus to dwell with us. Jesus’s death and resurrection delivers us from the dominion of death and gives us hope for an eternal life. When we truly realize the goodness of God, we will want to worship God passionately like David did. 

To worship is to be engaged with our whole being. Eugene Peterson once said, “Worship is an act which develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God expressed in an act of worship.” We are called to participate in worship actively and passionately. If your default worship posture is standing still with hands in your pocket, mouthing the lyrics with a bored look on your face, this posture eventually transforms you into a passive worshiper, losing a heart of awe when you come into the presence of God. Try using your whole person, including your heart and your body gestures, to express that God is the Lord of your life when you worship him.