“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.”
— Psalm 95:6–7 (ESV)
Saturday night is more than just the eve of another Sunday—it is the threshold of a privileged encounter to corporately worship as a local church. As we anticipate gathering with God’s people, Saturday evening often offers us with a unique opportunity to quiet our hearts, lay aside the noise of the week, and prepare our souls to worship the living God with His people.
Corporate Worship is not something we stumble into unprepared. It is a response to the greatness and grace of our God. AW Tozer said, “When we’ve known God enough and come to have faith in Him, when we have boundless confidence in His character, and when we come to admire Him and love Him for His excellence, when we become magnetized by His beauty and adore Him we will want to pour ourselves out at His feet.”
The psalmist invites us to “worship and bow down”. This points us to adopt a posture of humility and reverence, “for he is our God.” Notice and pay attention to how personal our view is of The Creator of the universe. The God we worship is not distant; He is our Maker, our Shepherd, our Redeemer, our Father.
So how do we prepare our hearts to corporately worship?
Pray – Ask the Lord to soften your heart, remove distractions, and give you a hunger to hear His Word. Ask God to move, as only He can, by His Word and His Holy Spirit in our church at Bethlehem.
- Psalm 139:23–24 (ESV) “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
- Colossians 3:2 (ESV) “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
- Matthew 5:6 (ESV) “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Repent – Set aside time to inwardly reflect and confess sin to Him. Forgiveness of our sin through the blood of Jesus allows us to worship in freedom!
- Hebrews 10:19–22 (ESV) “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh… let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
- Ephesians 1:7 (ESV) “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”
- John 4:24 (ESV) “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Reflect – Dwell on God’s faithfulness this past week and give thanks. When we recognize God for who He is and what He has done – that will lead to worship.
- Lamentations 3:22–23 (ESV) “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
- Psalm 103:1–2 (ESV) “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”
For the Redeemed, when the church gathers tomorrow, we come together not as a collection of spectators, but as worshipers—sacrificially, humbly, and joyfully. What a blessing it is to gather with the saints to corporately worship The One True and Living God.