Wesley’s Worship
This post is not about worship wars or worship styles. It is about worship…pure and simple worship. <Tweet this
I love our Sunday evening worship service. Pastor Josh is always saying there is “something special about Sunday nights at Underwood Baptist” – and he is right. But there was something extra special happening this past Sunday night that made Psalm 33:1 a real-life experience for me.
Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright. Psalm 33:1
Wesley is 16 years old and has Down’s. His daddy is our interim worship leader right now at UBC. I love to watch him worship – head tilted toward the sky and hands lifted toward the heavens. There is not a hint of reservation in his offering of purest praise to God. And might I paraphrase what the Psalmist said in Ps. 33:1, “praise looks good on Wesley”.
When Jesus was speaking to the woman at the well in John 4, she desperately tried to change the topic from her sin to anything else. She diverts the questions of Jesus by talking about where her ancestors worshiped. Jesus quickly corrected her – true seekers worship in spirit and in truth.
Jesus took her straight from the where of worship to the whom of worship. Worship begins with faith in the One who was standing right next to the woman at the well; the same One who dwells within all believers.
Wesley has faith in this same Jesus. His spirit then responds in worship – withholding nothing. And he is worshiping in spirit and truth, not out of tradition or ritual.
Worship isn’t strictly about our brain or strictly about our emotion – it is about both. Sometimes the expression of worship is being still before God…or going facedown in prayer…or lifting hands to testify. We cannot pass judgment on how another brother or sister worships. Our brains and emotions are all diversely created by our Great God, but are unified by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4).
There is no specific mix of songs or order of worship that can conjure up pure worship. It must flow from the overwhelmed spirit of the believer…a believer who will not go down into silence. This is what I see in sweet Wesley’s face as he worships, an overwhelmed believer’s spirit.
Great Word Shelly and very true. Praise God
Wesley has taught me and mine more about living and loving than I ever taught him when I was teaching him. He. Is. Love. (and stubborn as a mule!) I love you, Wes. To the moon and back…Even when you call me a “loser”. If you think his worship is great, you ought to see him coach from the sidelines. Thanks for this Shelly. It made my day.