Vistas of Worship

Psalms 26:8 (KJV) LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

(Proverbs 25 also read)

We hear people talk about how they don’t need to go to church in order to worship.  That is one of those statements that is totally correct in it’s details and facts and yet totally wrong in it’s intent and attitude.  When I’ve heard people say this, they generally are people who do not want to submit themselves to any other spiritual authority and so they avoid the church.  Sometimes the problem is that the church has gotten so culturally compliant that it no longer seems to be a place to worship.  I can understand that.

Here we have David who does not yet have a temple to worship in but he does have a location which is looked at as being the house of God.  He loved that location and you pick up part of the reason in the second part of the verse.  He talks about the place where God’s honor dwells.  The modern translation says glory instead of honor.  When we go to church to worship, we should understand that we are going there because it is a place that God has ordained to meet Him.  His honor dwells there.

But I think there’s a second thought here, which goes along with the original people we were talking about.  There are many places there you can go and recognize God’s glory as being there.  I think of my front porch in the morning as I worship before dawn.  I can think of many other locations where I’ve been where it is easy to worship God.  Often that is out in nature somewhere.  Sometimes it’s the most unexpected places, but God is there.

So?  Realize that you can honor God almost anywhere by focusing on Him.  His radiance and glory are powerful enough to overcome any obstacles.