“Living a Life of Worship: How to Cultivate a Deeper Connection with God”

This week my Bible study group is looking at Psalms 103. As I read through it, I am struck not only by the complexity of salvation as revealed here, but also by the call to a life of worship. I want to take time and share with you what I have learned and 5 ways you can build a life of worship in your daily life.

Psalm 103:1-5

Psalms 103 starts out, “Bless the Lord Oh my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name” (V. 1). David begins this Psalm by calling on his soul to praise and worship the Lord. He is awakening the deepest parts of himself to give as an offering to God.

David goes on to say, “Bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not his benefits” (v.2). His repetition shows us that it is a continual thing we must do. Constantly waking ourselves up to see and worship God for all the things He does for us. Worship is not something we do on Sunday morning alone, waking up early to give to God. Worship is an act we must devote ourselves to do continually through our Christian walk.

How can we worship God continually? One way is by listing all the things God has done for us. In the rest of Psalm 103, David lists all the attributes and blessings we receive from God. Today I want to dive into the first five verses of Psalms and look at the foundation for all our worship, salvation, and our solid footing on which to build a life of worship.

The first part of salvation we must be thankful for is the forgiveness of All sin (V. 3) God, through Jesus, forgives all our iniquities. This is a continual and all-covering forgiveness. Without forgiveness of sin, we could not enjoy the other gifts he has for us, such as healing and peace.

The scripture goes on in verse 3 to say, “He heals all our disease” (V.3). Healing of any kind is impossible without God. We cannot be connected to God or His awesome power without forgiveness of sin. In the New Testament Jesus a paralyzed man, whom He healed, “your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). To be healed the man needed to first be forgiven.

God did not stop at forgiving our sins. He did not issue forgiveness without giving us a way out of the darkness we were in, a way to a new life. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “he [God] will do so [Continue to bring healing] till the last trace of taint has gone from our nature.” God forgives and heals us and as we accept His forgiveness and healing, we are lifted from the darkness, or pit (V. 4), God finds us and we are brought into the light, a new life in Christ.

After pulling us from the pit he crowns us with love and mercy (V.4). In other words, he put on us the virtues of Himself. God is love and mercy. After God pulls from the pit he puts his own character on us, teaching us to be more like him day by day.

Finally, after forgiving us, healing us, pulling us from darkness, and clothing us in his righteousness, God restores us. As we learn to walk in His ways, we find new strength. The strength to be patient, and kind when the world is not. We find that when God renews our strength we can do things we could never do alone.

These five verses in Psalms show us that salvation is the greatest gift we have received and because of this gift God deserves our all in worship. Without the gift of salvation, and forgiveness, we cannot be healed, find peace, or renewal. And because of this we own God all our worship because He has forgiven All our sins, healed All our diseases, renewed All our strength, and banished All our darkness.

5 ways to live a life of worship.

1. Pray Scripture—Throughout scripture, we are told how powerful both prayers and God’s word are (Hebrews 4:12, James 5:16). God loves to hear our prayers and He loves to see us taking His words to heart. What better way to both invite God’s power into our lives and to worship Him for all that He has done for us.

• Time of Silence—The Psalms often tell us to be still before God () When we are still we are able to hear God better. God loves when His children sit at His feet and listen to His words. Think about Jesus’ reaction to Martha sitting at His feet listening to Him. Stillness can be a powerful way to worship God.

• Being the Hand and feet of Jesus—Jesus tells us that second only to loving God with all our heart, soul and mind is loving others. So it goes to reason that helping and serving others is something that brings joy and blessing to God. Decide in your heart that you are going to look for ways to be the hands and feet of Jesus this week as part of your worship of God who has given everything for all humanity.

• Reading Scripture aloud— For the most part, most of us probably read the Bible in silence and there is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we need to speak the truth out. Reading the scripture out loud has helped me personally remember what I am reading more, and it fills the air of our home with God’s truth. Speaking the truth reconfirms it in our hearts and minds, strengthening our commitment to Christ (Romans 10:9-10) which is an important part of worship.

• Nature walks—Have you been outside and seen what a marvelous world God created for us to enjoy? As we look at creation, we can see the fingerprints of God. Creation reveals His majesty (Psalms 19:1). When we are filled with wonder and awe of God and who He is, praise seems to just fall from our lips. When I can see God’s reflection through our natural world and other people, I can’t help but praise and worship the Lord. I encourage everyone to look at the world around them and thank and worship God whether in words or song for all that He is and all He has done.

Conclusion

We have gone through Psalms 103:1-5 and saw that salvation is the biggest reason we should praise and worship the Lord. Through salvation, we are granted forgiveness, healing, rescue, renewal, and restoration. Because of all the Lord has given us, He deserves nothing less than our all. To give Him our best and our all we talked about 5 ways you can build not just a worship routine but a life of worship.

In this time of lent, I encourage you to explore ways you can come before God and thank Him for salvation through Christ Jesus, to work towards building a life that worships Him. In the comments below leave us a comment about what you do to cultivate a life of worship in your own Christian walk.

resources

Spurgeon, Charles “Psalms 103:1-5” Treasures of David Commentary

ESV Bible