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"Too much me, not enough us" By Andy Snider, Theology professor at Master's Seminary (theologyislife.blogspot.com)

Too much me, not enough us

"I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the LORD; the humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together." Psalm 34:1-3

Recently, upon the umpteenth reading of this psalm, I took special notice of verse 3. It is an invitation to corporate worship. Then I noticed there's more of this language in the psalm: "O taste and see that the LORD is good" (v. 8); "Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD" (v. 11).

"Magnify the LORD with me, let us exalt his name together." I think there is something qualitatively different about worshiping with other believers that goes beyond the simple accumulation of bodies and voices. It's not a matter of crowd size and volume level. Worshiping with others is the joining of redeemed souls in the presence of their Redeemer for the purpose of rightly adoring him for who he is. And when we do this, he meets with us in an unusual way. It should be regarded as an immense and exciting privilege to gather and worship with the assembled saints. I think that our cultural individualism inhibits the corporateness of our worship. We're not a bunch of individuals who have gathered to worship individually. We are a body whose members have assembled to offer a unity of worship.

"Taste and see that the LORD is good." We are not spectators when we worship together - we are those who have seen, heard, touched, smelled, and tasted the goodness of God. We bring those experiences together and share them with each other in the presence of God.

"Come children...I will teach you the fear of the LORD." Our worship also has a teaching element. But be careful - worship is not merely intellectual, just like theology is not merely cognitive. More on this in a later post. On to the punch line -

Resurrection Sunday is my favorite day of the year, for on it we celebrate uniquely the reason for living the other 364. So much comes together theologically on this day - the Body of Christ, crucified and raised together with its Head, gathers in the Spirit of Christ to praise the Father of us all. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to gather with others who have tasted the goodness of the Lord, and exalt his name together.

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