PSALM 5:7 – But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.”
THEME OF THE DAY: HOW TO GO TO CHURCH. How did we go to church last Sunday? No, I am not referring to our dress, the type of vehicle we rode in or the route we took, nor am I thinking along the lines of anything in the physical realm. And before we answer that question, let’s look ahead, how are we going to go to church this coming Lord’s Day, if He allows? Same thing, not addressing what we will wear, type of vehicle we will travel in, the road we will take, or any other physical preparation. This is about the heart. This is about heart preparation, This is about attitude. This is about setting ourselves up to offer acceptable worship to the Lord in spirit and truth.
First, we prepare our heart for church by ensuring the motive for going. The Psalmist proclaims what is the proper motive for coming to the sanctuary of God – O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory (Psalm 63:1-2). An unknown Puritan pastor of the 17th century once said, “It is a sign of spiritual barrenness when we come to worship out of a sense of habit or duty instead of fulfilling and satisfying a thirst.” Read that again, and then ask ourselves the question, “Am I coming to corporate worship with a thirst to meet God, to be satisfied by worshipping God, and to encounter Him in the power of His Word preached that brings me to behold His power and glory?” Yes, worship is for God but it is also for us, not to feel better but to know the reality of God’s holy, holy, holy Presence that humbles us, enabling us to worship Him as He so deserves.
Another area of preparation of the heart for Lord’s Day worship is found in today’s scripture – But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house (Psalm 5:7a). Take time as individuals and families on a Saturday night to read portions of the Gospels, like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane or the Upper Room discourse, particularly John 13. Also consider reading the accounts of our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection. These places of observing divine love will prepare our hearts for worship. In fact, make it a point on Sunday mornings to mediate, even if only for a few minutes, on the Gospel. In doing these acts of heart preparation we will enter our churches with hearts ready to meet the Lord, to behold His power and beauty and offer to Him worship in spirit and truth to the praise of His Name.
PRAYER: “Father, may my heart be prepared by the Gospel prior to coming to meet with Your people on Your Day.”
QUOTE: “Think often on the love of God in Christ Jesus and especially so when we come to gather for corporate worship.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim