When You Go to the House of God

Daily Reading:  Ecclesiastes 5-6

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. (Ecclesiastes 5.1)

Devotional Thought: Doc, a good friend of mine, recently loaned me Holy Fire Fell, a history of worship practices in the Church of the Nazarene by Dirk Ellis.  As the author reviewed the changes in worship style, he expressed our forefathers' concern over narcissistic worship - worship that is focused on us and our feelings.  Frankly, I think that condition is prevalent in churches and among Christians today.  We have made worship about us.  We want the songs to move our hearts, the message to meet our needs, even the length of the service to fit our schedules.

Worshipers in the days of Ecclesiastes suffered from a similar ailment.  They wanted worship centered around themselves.  The Teacher called it "the sacrifice of fools!"  He warned them, "guard your steps when you go to the house of God."  Our coming is not about getting our felt needs met, nor is it about offering great and entertaining worship experiences.  We must "draw near [to God] to listen."

God has something to say to us, but it is hard for him to get a word in edgewise!  We are too concerned about what we are saying (or singing!) to hear what God is saying.  The Teacher warned against being rash with our words or hasty with our mouths.  "Let not your mouth lead you into sin...  For when words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear" (Ecclesiastes 5.6-7).

We have missed out on the meaning of worship if it is about what we have to say, or how we feel.  We need to guard our steps and our hearts when we go to the house of God!

Prayer: Jesus, you taught us that the Father desires worshipers who worship in spirit and truth.  May the Holy Spirit lead us to truly worship you, proclaiming your majesty and your mastery over all!  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 12.1-8

1 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,

4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us? ”

5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise, ” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs. ”

6 The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

7 You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever.

8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.