Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD (Psalm 34:11).

Is there more to worship than we know so far?  If so, is God interested in helping us grow and deepen as a worshipping community?

If so, are we willing to learn?

The answer to the first two questions is an emphatic Yes.  Yes, there is more to worship than we know, because there is more to God than we know or have experienced.  And yes, God actively seeks those who would learn more of what it means to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

And for us?  Are there some shifts God is inviting us to make as we consider what we do together on Sunday mornings … when we meet in smaller groups for Bible study, fellowship and prayer … when we are individually alone before God?

Notice the worship verbs used in this psalm: extol (or bless), praise, boast, rejoice, glorify (or magnify), exalt (verses 1-3).  These verbs, these “worship actions” that we are called into, help us shift our center away from ourselves and onto the Lord.  

Did you notice the context from which this psalm emerged?  Look right under the title “Psalm 34,” where we read these words: Of David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away … You can read the whole story in 1 Samuel 21:10-15, but here’s the quick summary: David, driven away by jealous and insecure King Saul, ends up with no place to run to other than the camp of the Philistines, Israel’s enemies.  But he’s recognized as an Israelite, so David pretends to be insane, until they’re finally fed up with him and drive him off.

You wouldn’t think this sort of psalm would have been birthed in those sorts of circumstances – but it was!  David worshipped God, which meant that David was trained by worship to never allow Saul to fill his field of vision, nor the Philistines, nor even his own successes or failures.  David worshipped God: God was the center and circumference of how David viewed all of life.

Notice, too, how this psalm regularly sounds the fear of the Lord: the angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him; fear the LORD, you his saints; I will teach you the fear of the LORD (verses 7-11).

To fear the LORD means to turn towards the Lord, in reverent worship and exultant praise, in honest confession and genuine repentance, in prayer from both life’s heights and depths.  And, having done these things together as a worshipping community on Sunday mornings, worship then turns us outward towards the world in righteous living:  keeping our tongues from evil, our lips from speaking lies, turning from evil, actively doing good, seeking God’s shalom for the world and pursuing that shalom, and doing what God is already doing: being close to the brokenhearted, saving the crushed in spirit (verses 12-18).

Ask God to help you into “something more” in worship. A suggestion: over the next few days, try spending enough time with and in this psalm so that the next time you “go to church”, some of its words, phrases and rhythms start to shift your practice of worship.