"Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name, Bring an offering and come into His courts.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; Tremble before Him, all the earth."
Say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns'." Psalms 96:7-10

"Worship the Lord!"
Do we really worship Him when we come together on Sunday (or whatever day your fellowship meets)? Do we worship Him in all His splendor and holiness? Do we come away from a worship service transformed by having been in the presence of our mighty God? Do we honor God from our hearts, or do we just give lip service in song and prayer? Do we prepare ourselves for the coming worship service?

Jesus speaking to the Pharisees and scribes in Mark 7:6 says, "He answered and said to them, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
'This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.'"
Let's not have this be said of Believers!

In Colossians 3:12-17 the Apostle Paul tells us to put on the new man, verse 16 says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Read the whole passage.)

In talking to the woman at the well, Jesus tells us how to worship God in John 4:23-24, "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

In our opening verses we see,
'Bring an offering and come into His courts'
The Scripture that comes to my heart here is Romans 12:1, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your spiritual act of worship."

So when we come to worship our Lord, we should do so with heart, mind, spirit and will, our whole self, focused on the One to whom we belong. The distractions will always be there, those little foxes that ruin our intimacy with our Lord.
"Catch the foxes for us,
The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, While our vineyards are in blossom" Song of Songs 2:15

We know our praise songs so well that we often do not even think of the words we are saying. But let me challenge each of us, in preparation for the worship service, sing some praise songs from the heart meaning every word. What a change would take place in our gathering -- hearts joined as one in giving all honor and glory to our Lord! However, remember that the worship service is to give glory to God so let us not sing song that focus on us and our needs, there are other places for that.

I will close with this praise song:
"Son of God, this is our praise song
Jesus, my Lord, I sing to You.
Come now, Spirit of God,
Breathe Life into these words of love
Angels join from above as we sing our praise song.
We praise You, we praise You,
We praise You, we worship You!"

There are so many songs that I love, but I ask the Lord to bring to your mind just the one that He would have you sing. For those who say, "I can't sing", then do as I do, make a joyful noise to the Lord.

Lord we love You! Amen