Psalms 24:3-4
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.
The book of Psalms was the Hymnal or song book for the nation of Israel. The individual songs were written by several authors, including King David and his son (and also King) Solomon. Fifteen out of the 150 separate songs (psalms) have been given the subtitle “song of ascent.” This category appears to date back to the time of authorship, or at least when the songs were all compiled in one place.
Scholars believe they were called “songs of ascent” because they were the songs frequently used as the Israelites made the journey back to the temple in Jerusalem for the three major holidays in the Jewish year. Or another thought is they refer to the priests climbing the fifteen steps of the temple to enter the holy place. Either way, they were likely sung by Gods’ people on their way to worship in the Jerusalem temple, which sat at the top of Mount Zion. They had to “ascend” to the prescribed place to meet with God in worship.
As a worship leader, I love this concept. Of course I understand we are not limited to a particular location to worship as our Old Covenant, Jewish predecessors. We are free to worship God anywhere. But there is something to the idea of making a journey and preparing our hearts for a special encounter with the living God, that may get lost in our new freedom.
When God’s people gather together to worship, I believe a similar process is at work. We have been out in the world and “on our own for a time” – living life, struggling with problems, enjoying good times, distracted with worries, rejoicing in victories, suffering pain from failures and rejection – lots of “stuff” that can take our eyes off God.
My hope and prayer is that as the family of God comes together each week, that there is a “sacred anticipation” as we gather to worship. Don’t misread me – there is nothing magic about the location. But I believe there IS something supernatural at work when God’s people come together to worship. And that WE EXPECT A REAL ENCOUNTER WITH GOD every time we approach Him in worship; that we experience the promise of Scripture that “He draws near to us as we draw near to Him” and that we feel His intimate closeness in worship.
Sadly, I believe this is a rare or even unknown experience for many believers. Sunday morning worship may seem dry, or stale, or flat out boring. There is no shortage of people we can blame: the pastor, the worship leader, or musicians, or the choice of music. We can be masters of making our worship of God, “somebody else’s responsibility.” Or worse, we forget that the worship is primarily for God's enjoyment, and not our own!
So I began this post with Psalm 24:3-4. The song writer asks, “Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?“ or he could have asked, “who will have a mountain top experience in worship today?” The first steps in ascending to the heights of powerful, intimate, soul-shaking worship, is to make sure we do our part to start the journey up the mountain with clean hands and a pure heart. Are we holding on to un-confessed sin? Are we nursing a grudge against a brother or sister, or allowing anger or bitterness to gain a foothold in our heart?
Those packs are too heavy for this important journey. We’ll never make up Mt Zion if we insist on keeping those burdens. You’ll miss the experience of intimate fellowship and worship with God who is eagerly waiting for you, and who has saved a special blessing for those who come ready to worship. Do yourself a favor and drop those packs before Sunday rolls around. It is the highlight of my week to worship with God’s people who have come eager to meet with Him face-to-face in worship. There is a closeness to God and to each other that is not available anywhere else! See you at the top...
For His Glory,
Dave Swanson
Worship Leader