O come, let us worship
“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice.”Psalm 95:6-7
Reflection
These verses are an invitation to worship, and the way the body enters into prayer is striking: "let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD". Worship is not just a mental state. It has gesture, posture, physical surrender. Bowing down and kneeling are signs of someone who recognizes the greatness of another and their own smallness. In an age when so much revolves around ourselves, the psalm calls us to lower our heads and look up, and to do so together: "come", "let us".
Then comes the reason for worship, and it is far more affectionate than one might imagine: "our maker... he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand". We worship because He made us; our existence is His gift. And because we are the sheep of His hand: cared for, guided, fed. The image is sweet. The God who deserves our reverence is the same who holds us with a shepherd's tenderness. Biblical worship combines awe and tenderness: falling on our knees before the Creator and resting like a sheep before the Shepherd.
The passage ends with a sentence that seems incomplete: "To day if ye will hear his voice". It continues in the next verse with the warning not to harden the heart, and the author of Hebrews takes it up in the New Testament. True worship does not stay only in emotion; it is attentive to hearing. After we bow, what comes is listening. How often we speak, sing and ask, but forget to stay silent and hear what God wants to say? And notice the "to day": God speaks in the present, not only in the past.
How about turning your time with God today into something more complete? Begin with a posture: kneel, or raise your hands, or stay in silence with head bowed. Remember the reason for worship: He made you and keeps you as a sheep. Sing or say words of worship. And then set aside time to listen, with the Bible open, with an attentive heart, saying: "Lord, what do You want to tell me today?". May worship be, at once, surrender and listening.
Prayer
Lord, come, I worship You. I kneel before You, my Maker and my Shepherd. I acknowledge that You made me and that I am a sheep of Your hand. Teach me to worship with body and heart, and to hear Your voice today, without hardening my heart. Amen.
Put it into practice
Today, worship God with a physical posture (kneel, raise your hands or bow your head) for a few minutes. Then stay in silence with the Bible open and ask: "What do You want to tell me today?".
To reflect on
Has your worship been only words and emotion, or also a posture of surrender and attentive listening to God's voice?
Bible text: King James Version (public domain).