All and Awe in Worship

I have written about intentional worship and here is a good place to expand on that into all and awe.

“²⁸Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! ²⁹Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; ³⁰tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.” — 1 Chronicles 16:28-30 (ESV)

In the above verses the instruction is to “ascribe to the LORD”.

Ascribe: to refer to a supposed cause, source, or author: to say or think that (something) is caused by, comes from, or is associated with a particular person or thing – Merriam-Webster Online

I am not of any glory or strength. That belongs to and is of God. He provides those to me when the time comes and when needed, but they are His and it is up to me to know and understand. I may have some thing, but they have been provided by God for my pleasure and when coming to Him I must bring all of that with me to demonstrate my reliance on Him for those things as I simply return them to Him in thanks for the allowances He has provided.

Not only am I to “ascribe to the LORD” but I am also supposed to come to Him in awe.

Awe: an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime – Merriam-Webster Online

I see in the second part of verse 29 and into verse 30 above that awe in my approach to God. I am to “tremble before him”. As an example of what and how this should look like, I am reminded of the pictures and videos of (bear with me) the girls that would have full body shakes and/or faint at the site of or when they got close to or touched Elvis Presley. It was not that they were “afraid” for their lives, it was that they were fully immersed in what they felt as the greatness of the man. Why are we not coming to God in the same manner and shaking and/or fainting as we get close to Him?

I am reminded this morning that I have to intentional in my worship and in doing so I have to bring all to Him and my worship should be as I am in awe of Him. I know that it may not be “socially acceptable” in the world to do so, but I have to remember that I am here to worship and bring glory to God and make sure that His glory is brought to the people. I cannot worry with what the world ascribes to, only that I “ascribe to the LORD”.

When worshiping the LORD, are you ascribing to Him? Are you bringing all that He has given to you and laying back at His feet in thanks? What if we were to do so and then get the full body shakes as we worship in awe of God?