Thoughts on Worship
Shawn over at Grey in Black and White has a couple of lovely posts on what worship is, and what it means to God. I think he's on to some really good thoughts here -- simple, yet meaningful, and encouraging to me in my own efforts to understand and practice worship.
From the first post:
I take some pleasure when I receive a compliment, but if you really want to see me happy spend some time telling me about how fine a child my son is (or my daughters for that matter). So it is with the Triune God....
And the second:
Worship is when we are amazed by God, when we are completely taken up by the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and when we express back to the Father what we know to be true about the Son through the leading of the Spirit. It can sometimes be emotionally satisfying, sometimes emotionally draining, and sometimes the emotions have little to do with it. Really, worship is not about having my heart touched; it's about touching God's heart when we acknowledge the perfections of the Son.
Those are just excerpts, though; I do recommend you read all of both posts. They aren't very long, but they're meaty.
From the first post:
I take some pleasure when I receive a compliment, but if you really want to see me happy spend some time telling me about how fine a child my son is (or my daughters for that matter). So it is with the Triune God....
And the second:
Worship is when we are amazed by God, when we are completely taken up by the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and when we express back to the Father what we know to be true about the Son through the leading of the Spirit. It can sometimes be emotionally satisfying, sometimes emotionally draining, and sometimes the emotions have little to do with it. Really, worship is not about having my heart touched; it's about touching God's heart when we acknowledge the perfections of the Son.
Those are just excerpts, though; I do recommend you read all of both posts. They aren't very long, but they're meaty.