This is not a hold up, but I won’t turn away your donations.
I want to keep talking about hands, as a continuation from last weeks meditation. I talked about how we are God’s hands and should be doing his work with our hands. This week, I want to bring a few verses from the Psalms into focus..
Psalms 134:2
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.
Psalms 141:2
May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Psalms 143:6
| I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
”Put your hands up!” is not just a phrase used in the old West during a robbery. It’s a scriptural practice used to show praise and honor to God. It isn’t just a goofy practice in other contemporary churches. It’s Biblical. So I ask this question, without having a good answer. Why don’t we ever do this in our worship service? Why do we consider stillness and silence to be proper worship? I have a couple ideas, but I really don’t have the answer for this, and I’m hoping that you might be able to help answer this question. Do we think we will be ridiculed by our peers if we held our hands to the sky during a song or a hymn? Are we “too cool” to be seen doing this? Are our traditions getting in the way of our heartfelt worship? Why are we too reserved to worship the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind in front of our own Brothers and Sisters? Stick ‘em up! |
