Time of Preparation
Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. Are things in your vicinity conducive to a time of personal worship? Are there any changes or adjustments (turning off tech, making yourself comfortable) you need to make before you begin?
When you are ready, take some time to sit in silence and prepare your heart for worship. Ask God to clear away any distractions that might keep you from being truly present in this moment.
Encounter With God
In this first movement, we simply seek to see God for who He is: the One worthy of worship.
“But I, by your great love,
can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
toward your holy temple.”
—Psalm 5:7 (NIV)
Worship, by its very nature, exists in a space where God is both knowable and unknowable.
He is knowable because, by his grace, he has revealed himself to us: in creation, in community, by his word, by his Spirit, and most supremely in the person and work of Jesus.
But even as we are invited to draw near to him, we can’t fully escape the truth that we are in the presence of the mighty God of the universe, the source of all creation. Our mortal hearts and minds can’t fully comprehend the One we encounter, for he is “beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words,” as one popular worship song puts it.
So what is our response to this tension? The Psalmist offers us the perfect posture—in his presence, we bow down. By his great love we come into his house, and in reverence we bow down. We embrace both knowing and mystery as we worship the God who is so far beyond us…yet draws us near.
TRADITIONAL SONG OF ENCOUNTER: We Bow Down (lyrics here)