
Grace Meditation # 11
Worship Together-A Grace Empowered Passion for Worship
Matt Creamer January 2025
Psalm 63:1-4
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.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
Psalm 122:1
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
The first two decades of the 21st century have seen a drastic decline in regular church attendance. According to some studies only 30 percent of American adults attend church on a regular basis. Sadly, this trend is true even among those who identify themselves as born again, evangelical, believers. The COVID pandemic of 2020-21 only exacerbated the problem as folks got used to being able to watch their church’s livestream from the safety and comfort of their own living rooms without the stress and hassle of having to “get dressed for church” and load the family into the car and make the drive. It seems that many have developed a “take it or leave it” attitude when it comes to being in worship. When this happens, the distractions of our busy, modern-day lives (60-hour work weeks, kid’s school schedules, kids’ and adults’ sports schedules, vacations, recreation, the dynamics of blended family situations) make it very easy to “just skip this Sunday.”
Of course, individuals and families can and should worship everywhere. I have heard many times, “Well, I can worship out on the river fishing, or in the woods hunting, or at the beach, just as well as being in a church building!” Yes, nature does reflect the glory and majesty of God and can lead us to worship individually. But this is denying the “specialness” and sacredness of corporate worship-God’s people gathered. Psalms 22 tells us that our God sits “enthroned above the praises of HIS PEOPLE,” or in some other translations, “inhabits the praises of HIS PEOPLE.” When God’s people gather there is a magnified experience of the presence of God. There is a vertical aspect-we look “upward” as together we worship our high and exalted God. But there is also a horizontal aspect to corporate worship as we who have experienced God’s grace “rub elbows” with each other and “rub off” on each other. Our presence together, as those desperately in need of God’s grace, helps us see more of God’s grace displayed in the lives of other desperate sinners just like us and gives us an even greater appreciation for the goodness of God. With grateful hearts for all His benefits, together, we encourage one another to raise our voices-together-as one big choir, in a symphony of prayer and praise.
There are many “first person singular” (I) psalms. And there are many “first person plural” (we) psalms. But both were written for corporate worship-corporate singing. The “I” psalms are written to inspire the congregation to identify with the individual and the “we” psalms are meant to inspire the individual to identify with the congregation.
So maybe, on a particular Sunday, you are not feeling overly passionate about worship? Hearing and sensing someone next to you singing: “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.” might help reignite your passion and longing for the Lord in that moment. Their passion might “rub off” on you and vice-versa on a different Sunday. The goal of the “I” psalms is that they might be transformed into “we” psalms. That is the benefit of corporate worship. The gladness of being invited to “go to the house of the Lord” by the whole group transformed into, “We were glad when we said to each other, let us go to the house of the Lord.”
As is often pointed out, embers separated from the rest of the embers in the fire, quickly burn out and grow cold. But when kept all together, the embers keep the fire burning brightly.
Hebrews 10:24-25
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
See you Sunday? 😊