Praise and Worship (IV): Praise brings true Worship
---continuing
In the last article we discussed how the Temple was designed and how that helps us to see the flow of the Praise and Worship. The temple was designed with different degree of "Holiness", and the inner most is the Holy of Holies. The Praise and worship is also designed with different degrees of "Holiness". What is meant is how the heart of the people are "set apart" for the Lord. From Thanksgiving, where we start to enter as through a gate, and then we start to gaze on the Lord in Praise, and as we look at him, how can we fail not to worship him? And so the psalmist says
Ps. 95
[6] O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
[7] For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
As we start to gaze on the Lord, we are invited to "Worship". In fact, the literal meaning of worship is to "bow down". In this worship, we enter into the Holy of Holies, we began to "set ourselves apart" wholly to God. In Praise, we begin to set aside our world to enter into God's presence. Here in worship, we are truly in God's presence. As the temple was designed with the inner most as the Holiest, so in Worship, we are called to "set apart" ourselves wholly to God. I guess the key word is "wholly".
In Praise we see How beautiful this God is, how kind, and how loving he is. And this gaze drives us to "give ourselves" wholly to God. This is Holiness, wholly set apart for the Lord.
And that's why I feel verse 7 of Psalm 95 explains a lot of Worship.
[7] For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
The main thing in worship is the "self-giving". And this is what the Psalmist said, "for he is our God". This reminds us of what God says, "You shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Jer 30:22) . God says that he wills to be our God. This God gives himself to us! And he truly gives everything to us, even his own body. And maybe that's the reason why the highest worship of our catholic faith is the Holy Eucharist as Jesus says
This is my body, given for you
This is my blood, poured out for you
God has given everything, and there is nothing that he has not given to us. And in this time of worship, as much as it is the time of God's self-giving act, it is also the time for us to respond to this wonderful self-giving act of God.
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand
Now, we are His! We are his people, the sheep of His hand. In Worship we give ourselves to God. And we are not invited only to give part of ourselves, but we are invited to give ourselves "wholly" and "totally" just as Christ gives himself for us "wholly" and "totally".
And so in Praise and Worship, we are led to this "total self-giving" which we find its most meaning in "Worship". I believe this is what Worship is.
If you ever attend a catholic charismatic prayer meeting, you might see that people usually open up their hands as they worship. Some people feel that it is a bit unusual for catholics. But we find this gesture of "hands opened and lifted up" mostly in a catholic priest as he celebrates the mass. How often does he open up his arms and pray! And in some parishes, the congregation also pray the Our Father with their hands opened and lifted up (see figure).
And in the book "Introduction to Christianity", Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) states that this gesture is the gesture of how the early Christians pray!
Even the church has a name for it, since the church tries to "preserve" the gesture in the liturgy. We usually call it the "orantes" gesture.
The early Fathers of the Church see that this gesture of prayer and worship points to the gesture of Christ on the Cross. Pope Benedict then said that this shows that Christ is the true worshiper!
And for me, this shows again the meaning of worship. That the true worship can be seen on the Cross, on the man Jesus who gave himself for us totally and completely.
This is the worship that we are invited to, the worship to give ourselves totally to God. We are invited to give him our worries, our burdens, our hurts, our joy, our whole life, to give him our dreams and future, but also our presents and past, to give every area in our life, our needs and difficulties, our family, and our health, everything, and everything.
To this God, and in this worship, do we give our whole being. Not reserving anything for the "I" of our ego. Just as St. Paul writes,
it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:20
And this is worship, that it is no longer I, but it is Christ. I live by faith in the Son of God. And Pope Benedict once said that faith is about standing and giving our whole being to stand on this ground of our whole being. In this worship we learn not to stand on ourselves, but to stand on Jesus, the meaning of our whole being, our love, our God, on Jesus who loves us and gives himself for me out of love. This love, that he gives himself for me, is the one that drives me to give my whole self back to Him in return, that is in worship. And no wonder we shouldn't worship only in a Prayer Meeting.
Worship is a decision, to stand no longer on I, but on Jesus.
it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:20
--to be continued
In the last article we discussed how the Temple was designed and how that helps us to see the flow of the Praise and Worship. The temple was designed with different degree of "Holiness", and the inner most is the Holy of Holies. The Praise and worship is also designed with different degrees of "Holiness". What is meant is how the heart of the people are "set apart" for the Lord. From Thanksgiving, where we start to enter as through a gate, and then we start to gaze on the Lord in Praise, and as we look at him, how can we fail not to worship him? And so the psalmist says
Ps. 95
[6] O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
[7] For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
As we start to gaze on the Lord, we are invited to "Worship". In fact, the literal meaning of worship is to "bow down". In this worship, we enter into the Holy of Holies, we began to "set ourselves apart" wholly to God. In Praise, we begin to set aside our world to enter into God's presence. Here in worship, we are truly in God's presence. As the temple was designed with the inner most as the Holiest, so in Worship, we are called to "set apart" ourselves wholly to God. I guess the key word is "wholly".
In Praise we see How beautiful this God is, how kind, and how loving he is. And this gaze drives us to "give ourselves" wholly to God. This is Holiness, wholly set apart for the Lord.
And that's why I feel verse 7 of Psalm 95 explains a lot of Worship.
[7] For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
The main thing in worship is the "self-giving". And this is what the Psalmist said, "for he is our God". This reminds us of what God says, "You shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Jer 30:22) . God says that he wills to be our God. This God gives himself to us! And he truly gives everything to us, even his own body. And maybe that's the reason why the highest worship of our catholic faith is the Holy Eucharist as Jesus says
This is my body, given for you
This is my blood, poured out for you
God has given everything, and there is nothing that he has not given to us. And in this time of worship, as much as it is the time of God's self-giving act, it is also the time for us to respond to this wonderful self-giving act of God.
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand
Now, we are His! We are his people, the sheep of His hand. In Worship we give ourselves to God. And we are not invited only to give part of ourselves, but we are invited to give ourselves "wholly" and "totally" just as Christ gives himself for us "wholly" and "totally".
And so in Praise and Worship, we are led to this "total self-giving" which we find its most meaning in "Worship". I believe this is what Worship is.
If you ever attend a catholic charismatic prayer meeting, you might see that people usually open up their hands as they worship. Some people feel that it is a bit unusual for catholics. But we find this gesture of "hands opened and lifted up" mostly in a catholic priest as he celebrates the mass. How often does he open up his arms and pray! And in some parishes, the congregation also pray the Our Father with their hands opened and lifted up (see figure).
And in the book "Introduction to Christianity", Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) states that this gesture is the gesture of how the early Christians pray!
Even the church has a name for it, since the church tries to "preserve" the gesture in the liturgy. We usually call it the "orantes" gesture.
The early Fathers of the Church see that this gesture of prayer and worship points to the gesture of Christ on the Cross. Pope Benedict then said that this shows that Christ is the true worshiper!
And for me, this shows again the meaning of worship. That the true worship can be seen on the Cross, on the man Jesus who gave himself for us totally and completely.This is the worship that we are invited to, the worship to give ourselves totally to God. We are invited to give him our worries, our burdens, our hurts, our joy, our whole life, to give him our dreams and future, but also our presents and past, to give every area in our life, our needs and difficulties, our family, and our health, everything, and everything.
To this God, and in this worship, do we give our whole being. Not reserving anything for the "I" of our ego. Just as St. Paul writes,
it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:20
And this is worship, that it is no longer I, but it is Christ. I live by faith in the Son of God. And Pope Benedict once said that faith is about standing and giving our whole being to stand on this ground of our whole being. In this worship we learn not to stand on ourselves, but to stand on Jesus, the meaning of our whole being, our love, our God, on Jesus who loves us and gives himself for me out of love. This love, that he gives himself for me, is the one that drives me to give my whole self back to Him in return, that is in worship. And no wonder we shouldn't worship only in a Prayer Meeting.
Worship is a decision, to stand no longer on I, but on Jesus.
it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:20
--to be continued
posted by Oka | 7:13 pm
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