Psalm 134
Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord
who minister by night in the house of the Lord.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion,
He who is the Maker of heaven and earth.
(NIV 2011)
I don't know about you but sometimes I don't quite feel like praising God but as soon as I do my whole demeanour changes. The grumpy or sad Jo changes into a more upbeat, calm, and happy Jo. Singing does something to lift your soul and worship does something even more. There is a clear difference between just singing and worshipping. Worshipping is a heart thing. It's not about singing the right notes, although it sounds better if we do. It's about giving of ourselves to God.
The picture is of my cat Buddy, one of my favourate photos of him when he was a kitten at full stretch playing with a garden cane which I had hold of the other end. It, likes singing, and worshipping makes me joyful. We can never get enough joy can we? Sometimes life gets in the way and makes us grumpy, or sad, or whatever and actually it is OK to come to God in those moods. If we can't be honest with our Heavenly Father then who can we be honest to? Even in our grieving, or our anger, bring it all to God.
It's really hot in the UK and we aren't equipped for it like many of our European neighbours and other countries. Also unlike other countries its also very humid. I like the hot weather but not the humidity. I much prefer the summer to other months but the extremes of heat are a bit much for me. Whatever the weather and however we are feeling God deserves or praise. But maybe on Sunday morning as we lift our hands in worship together in our churches we need a little bit more of this!
