Why Does God Command Us to Worship Him?

Have you ever considered why God commands us to worship Him? God doesn't need our worship!

I've been thinking about the things that God commands us to do recently - do not murder, honour your father and mother, do not steal, etc. What I have been dwelling on, though is God's first commandment to us - 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'( Exodus 20:3). I'm sure we have all heard many seminars and sermons that have talked about this 'command to worship' and how 'worship is all about out lifestyle' and this is right, of course. However, it has made me think - why does God command us to do this?

There are some people who are 'worshipped' by thousands, even millions of devoted followers - sports stars, film or music celebrities, kings, queens and historical icons. It seems that many of them react to this in one of two ways: a) The 'fame' and power that goes with it, somehow leads them to take an almost 'superior' outlook on life, whereby they expect everything, demand even more and become real 'prima-donas' with very over-inflated egos, or b) They struggle with the pressure that fame to this level brings and so they become paranoid about having to 'live up' to what their followers expect. They sometimes will go to great lengths to 'avoid' being seen, becoming very reclusive and desperately lonely people.

God is so different! He is not 'puffed up' by His devoted followers, neither is He anxious about what people expect from Him. Yet, God makes it clear that worshipping Him is not an option, or something we do when 'things are going well'! God loves us worshipping Him, in fact the bible says that He 'Draws near to us as we begin to draw near to Him' (James 4:8). So, if worshipping God is not for His benefit - why is it such a big deal for God that He commands us to do it? Worshipping God is...for our benefit! God commands us to worship Him because He knows how much good it does us! If you think about it, the bible teaches us that 'we are filled with joy in His (God's) presence' (Psalm 16:11), that 'He removes our sadness and clothes us with joy', (Psalm 30:11 - there are loads of references! The bible also teaches us 'the joy of the Lord is our strength' (Nehemiah 8:10). How many times have we begun to praise God through gritted teeth, because we're feeling down, tired, worried - whatever, and within minutes are refreshed, energised, feeling released and ready to take on the world for Jesus! (or is that just me!!)

It is incredible to think that God commands us to worship Him, because He knows just how much it benefits us by being in His presence. How we find our faith lighting up, our hearts calmed, our strength refreshed and our perspective re-aligned.

God is truly amazing!

Simon

Saviour King - All Glory Choir

Calling all singers....

This year, for our big Christmas event we are 'going large' with the choir! We want to have a really strong 'choral feel' to our songs, so we are looking for a choir of at least 20 people - good singers who can learn harmonies and hold a part.

I really need ALL of our worship team to 'throw' yourselves into Saviour King - All Glory this year, with those of you who are not playing in the band to be singing in the choir - we need as many good musicians as possible here. We are going for more songs than usual, and rehearsals will be starting next Sunday - 16th October at 1.00pm. we will finish at 3.00pm and rehearsals will be every two weeks from this date.

Thanks,

Simon