TWLL #64: Don't Pursue Worship. Pursue What Causes it.

read time: 3 minutes

___________________

On the surface, it might look like growing as a worship leader means you should focus on worship itself.  But when you look at David, the man in Scripture who was known as a worshipper and wrote many Psalms of worship, you see a different focus.

Psalm 27

One of David's more well-known Psalms is 27, and in Psalm 27 David makes a strong statement.

"One thing I've asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord..." (Psalm 27:4 NAS)

David says there's one thing he's asking God for.  And he's committed to pursuing this single thing.  And that thing is to dwell in the house of the Lord, and behold His beauty.

Back in David's day, the house of the Lord was synonymous with God's presence.  The house of the Lord was where the presence of God rested.

So when David says he's asking to dwell in the house of the Lord, he's asking to be in the presence of the Lord.

And then he says he wants to behold the beauty of the Lord.  We don't use the word "behold" much in our everyday language, but a simple definition would be "to see".  

So David is asking God, and reaching, to be in His presence and see His person.

The Core In Worship

Sometimes we talk about worship like it's an activity that we initiate.  But in reality I think worship is much more of a response.  Because worship, by definition, requires an object to respond to.

For us as believers it's the Lord- the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He is the object of our worship. 

So for us to worship Him, implies that we are responding to Him- to being in His presence and seeing Him.

If we're in His presence and we are beholding Him, the natural response is worship.

Connecting The Dots

So David- whether it's intentional on his part or not- in asking God to dwell in His presence and behold His beauty, is outlining a pattern or treatise for worship.

Because those components- being in His presence and beholding Him- are what produces an authentic response of worship from the worshipper.

Conclusion

I think the message in all this, for us as worship leaders, is simple. 

Offstage in our own regular devotional time with Jesus, and onstage when we're leading a room of people- we aim to draw near to Him, to come up close, and behold Him. 

If we make being in His presence and beholding Him our goal- the worship will follow.

____________ 

Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you: 

1. The Connection-Based Spontaneous Worship Course.  If spontaneous worship has been a struggle, you might want to check out Connection-Based Spontaneous Worship.  It's a self-guided, self-paced course that empowers you to lead spontaneous worship with confidence, enables your musicians to flow with you, and helps your room engage.  

2- Join A Zoom Group.  Every 3 months I host small zoom groups- one focused on worship leading and one on songwriting.  Each group meets once a week for an hour on Zoom over a 12-week period, as we walk through the process of learning to leading worship/write songs out of connection with Jesus.  For more details about the next upcoming zoom group, including schedule & cost, email me at [email protected]