Me, myself and I

There is a worship song that was fairly popular a while ago. I'm sure it's still popular in some churches, but I don't like it as a worship song anymore. The reason being that it's not so much a worship song as a song that reminds me who I am in Christ. This isn't a bad thing at all! We need to be reminded of who we are in Christ. I just find it difficult to sing those lyrics with my eyes closed in worship, because I'm basically singing to myself. About myself. With my eyes closed...

And that's become a thing in the world we are lucky to live in at the moment. It becomes all about me and my experience and how I perceive the world and what my destiny is; often at a cost to others.

It isn't only a so-called "worldly" thing either. This mentality has crept into the Church too. Many of the modern worship songs we sing seem to have evolved from God-centric (it's not a real word, but should help convey the message) to self-centredness. We're singing more about (and often to) ourselves than about God. And that's fine, but it's not really worshipping God, is it?

We even read the psalms in an egocentric kind of way. Here's an example. Read Psalm 51. It's the psalm that David wrote after he was told that God knew about his adultery with Bathsheba. In the past I would read it and feel guilty about all the bad things I've done. And rightly so. I would read it like this:
"HAVE MERCY ON ME, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion BLOT OUT MY TRANSGRESSIONS." (Psalm 51:1 - NIVUK)

And that's good. We all need to be reminded to return to God. Like changing a baby's nappy. It's something that needs to be done often, and for the same reason (to use a good quote about politicians out of context... #SorryNotSorry).

But leaving it at that doesn't come anywhere close to recognising the fullness and richness in a relationship with Christ. Read that verse again. If we call it worship, shouldn't the focus shift? Should it rather read something like this instead:
"Have mercy on me, O GOD,  ACCORDING TO YOUR UNFAILING LOVE, ACCORDING TO YOUR GREAT COMPASSION blot out my transgressions."

It's almost like we're so focussed on having our own needs (for forgiveness, for acceptance, for feeling loved, for our daily bread) met that we forget about the One who meets these needs. How often have we prayed and asked God for things before even recognising that HE is the One who is able to help? How often have we only brought our shopping list of needs and wants without recognising that HE is the One who generously blesses and cares for us? How often have we worshipped Him without recognising who HE truly is?

That is why my mission has become to learn again how to praise God for who He is instead of what I get from Him. I am making praise the first thing I do when I pray, and the last thing I do before saying amen. I need to be intentional about it, though. My tendency is still to go straight into asking God for stuff when I pray, often neglecting praise and thanksgiving. But recognising Who it is that I'm praying to first helps me pray faith-filled prayers (as Paul encourages us to do), pray continually (as Jesus told us to do), and really encounter God intimately, to the glory of HIS name instead of saying hollow, meaningless words of prayer for the sake of my comfort and conscious.

So... May you get to recognise God in all you do. May you experience His goodness, His kindness, His blessing and His power every day. And may you get to know Him for who He truly is.

Selah