PREPARE

Read over this Sunday’s lesson activities

This Sunday’s lesson technique is “Building Symbolic Motions”. Please be sure you review the lesson before Sunday and are comfortable with it! View the lesson.

Our worship of God shows that we value Him. Worship literally means “giving worth to something.” Worship starts by simply thinking about God—taking time to appreciate who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing. Worship is responding to all that God is with all that we are. When we worship, we’re able to give a voice to our deepest thoughts and feelings. Romans 12:1 says, “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Worship is a sacrifice of our time, treasure, and talents. It’s taking our everyday lives and placing them before God as an offering.

The life of David is an amazing example of someone who worshipped God in spite of his circumstances. No other part of the biblical story immerses us in this range of human experience, showing a person who is fully aware of God and how he responds to Him. The Psalms are filled with different postures of worship: dancing (Psalm 30:11), singing (Psalm 149:1), shouting with joy (Psalm 27:6), thanksgiving (Psalm 95:2), instrumental music (Psalm 98:5–6), bowing down (Psalm 95:6).

David’s response was often worship! David understood his special relationship with God—who he was as a child of God. He was a man who always ran to God. He was a man who, even in failure and adversity, found his identity in God. David was “a man after God’s own heart.” He desired to glorify God with all that he was. He recognized that worshipping God was the path to healing and restoration.

We were made to worship God. And as David learned, worshipping God in spite of our circumstances will bring healing and restoration to our souls. Grasping this concept and passing it down to our children is one of the most important tools that God will use to help them develop into spiritually healthy adults.

This week, set apart some quiet time and listen to Chris Tomlin’s song, “How Can I Keep from Singing.” Then take a few minutes and read Psalm 103:1–14. This is a psalm of blessing! Read the psalm again, this time physically kneeling before God—maybe whispering a prayer, or maybe even shouting. The literal meaning of the Hebrew word translated bless in English is “to kneel.” When we bless God, our souls kneel to Him—in worship or gratitude.

Consider your daily activities: sleeping, eating, going to work, etc. Choose one activity. What would it look like to place that activity before God as an offering of worship? What would you do differently? How would you think differently about this part of your life? Would the frequency, method, or other details of this activity change? Offer the activity to God as an act of worship as you offer yourself as a living sacrifice to Him.