Preparation: Jeremiah 33:2-3

God, Have My Lips

If you’re like most people, your birthday is an extra special occasion (well, at least when you’re young). You probably have a few friends and family over to celebrate with balloons, cake, and a piñata that resembles your favorite Pinedale Minister. And last, but not least, gifts!
Now imagine: Everyone shows up for your party with a special gift they picked out with you in mind. The table is stacked high with large boxes covered in expensive wrapping paper. You can hardly wait to tear into them. But after the cake and ice cream and, to your chagrin, everyone announces they’ve decided to keep the gifts for themselves. So they walk out the door with your gifts in hand.
I imagine you would be confused, and maybe even a little bit of offended. No, make that a whole lot offended, because their boorish behavior was downright insulting and selfish and rude!
Now look in the mirror. You may not realize it, but that’s how God feels on many Sunday mornings. Each week He invites us to join Him for a “party” at His house. It’s His special day, and He’s expecting us to be present with gifts in hand: the gifts of worship and praise. But instead, some decide to skip the party. And some who do come walk out at the end with their gift of praise still in hand.
It shouldn’t be that way, should it? Not just because God commands us to worship Him. We ought to want to give Him our worship. After all, God loved us so much that He “created us in His own image” (Genesis 1:27). And it was God’s love for us that brought Jesus to “be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again,” (Luke 23:7). And each day God gives us the gift of His provision, protection, comfort and guidance. It just stands to reason, even by man’s standards, that we should be eager to a end His party. Surely, our attitude should be: “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the LORD,” (Psalm 122:1).
What an awesome responsibility and privilege worship is; to be able to lift our voices directly to the Creator of the Heavens and earth and to have Him nd joy in what we offer. From the contemporary “rockin” songs of today, to the beloved hymns many of us have been raised on, God is pleased with any who come offering heartfelt worship.
Of course, the key to our worship is the word “heartfelt.” That’s what makes worship mean something to God. He wants to hear from us and see in us:
“Lord, you are my everything. You sit on the throne of my heart. I love you. Thank you for being so good to me.” Anything less then the surrender of that gift is an insult to Him. He wants us to give Him our heartfelt praise. And the amazing thing is that when we give that to God, we actually receive more than we give! Psalms 63:5 says, “My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods. With singing lips my mouth will praise you.”
I can’t count the number of times I have entered into the song service on Sunday morning with troubles of all sorts. But before the Benediction, I found that my mind was made clearer, my burden was made lighter, and my attitude transformed. You see, I gave my heartfelt worship and God gave me His presence and peace.
You have to hand it to the Father. He certainly knows what is best for us! He realizes that the act of giving is a far greater blessing than receiving. God is interested in our worship. He gave us a need to worship something and He asks us to use it to worship Him.
Chuck Swindoll tells a story about a man confined to a hospital room for many months. The man had a young son and, during his confinement, he had made a little wooden truck for his boy. Since the boy was not allowed to go into the ward and visit his father, an orderly took the gift down to the child, who was waiting in front of the hospital with his mother.
The father was looking out of a fifth- floor window, watching his son unwrap the gift. The little boy opened the package, and his eyes got wide when he saw that wonderful little truck. He hugged it to his chest. The little boy put the truck down, reached up and hugged the orderly thanking him for the truck. All the while the frustrated father is standing at the window waving his arms, trying to get his son’s attention, trying to say, “It’s me, son. I made the truck for you. I gave that to you. Look up here!” Finally, the mother and orderly turned the boy’s a attention up to that fifth- floor window. It was then the boy cried, “Daddy! Oh, thank you! I miss you, Daddy! Come home, Daddy. Thank you for my truck,” and the father stood in the window with tears pouring down his cheeks.
We are so much like that child. God pours His love and grace into our lives; He works around us and in us in so many ways every day, looking down on us all the while and saying, “Hey, I just want you to know how much I love you.” And we can show Him that through our praise!