Compelled to Worship

I read Psalm 45 this morning, and it occurs to me that the first verse expresses one of the reasons that I blog:

My heart bursts its banks,
spilling beauty and goodness.
I pour it out in a poem to the king,
shaping the river into words

May your heart burst its banks today.

On a different topic, Don Keller, in his sermon on Sunday at Asbury Woods, asked us to consider a question -- What is it that compels you to worship? What is it in God's kingdom that forces you to worship -- that creates a situation in which you can't not sing praise.

He then went on to list his three answers, which, when I thought about it, mirror my own (He stole my answers, in other words):

1. Music -- I've said it before -- God speaks to me through music. It can be during worship through hymns, anthems, or solos, or it can be outside of formal worship -- in the car, in my lab, in my kitchen. The location doesn't matter -- it's the "voice" that I hear. I've gotten into a habit in the past couple of months on Sunday evenings (usually, although Saturday works, too) of getting in my car, opening the windows and the sunroof, turning on a CD and driving downtown to pick up frozen yogurt for Steve and me. If you know Huntington, I go the long way around -- Norway, Washington Blvd, through the park. I have a great time singing (music's too loud for anybody to hear me, even myself) and driving. I wouldn't call it worship, but it is joyful. I'll miss it when the weather gets bad.
2. Nature -- It's always bothered me when I've heard people say that they don't need to go to church -- a meadow in the summer brings them close to God. A walk in the woods is how they experience God. You'll see in #3 why I think they are missing an important ingredient, but I must admit that the beauty of God's creation can certainly move me to worship. Both Don and Joe mentioned God in nature on Sunday. Don used Luke 19:39-40 to illustrate his point:
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus,
"Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."I'm not sure I understood that before, but I did when he said it. Creation does "cry out" of God's majesty, and it will move us to worship if we will only pay attention. It's more that "isn't this sunset beautiful?" Have you ever looked at a beautiful piece of art and known the talent and gifts of the artist from his handiwork? Have you ever watched a child play in the yard and known the glory of her creator? We can't help but hear the echo of God's voice in that which he has created. "God said...and it was good."
3. Christian Community -- Don explained that this was more than just people together in one room -- Christian community is the body of Christ, putting the needs of the other person ahead of our own. This one needed no explanation for me; I was sitting right in the middle of it. I just did a quick count of the number of people who worked to make the worship service and picnic a success on Sunday. My rough count, off the top of my head, and not including those who I didn't see working, was around 50 people. I think that's amazing. And what is even more amazing is that I didn't ask a single one of them to help -- they volunteered, they showed up, they just pitched in. They all saw a need, and answered it. That's Christian community, and it brings me to worship. I can hear God's echoes in a field, but its only in the Body of Christ that I can feel his love.

Is there something that creates in you a need to worship -- something that mandates a response? What around you calls to the spirit of God in you, and starts it singing?

Image: Another foggy day at the VA -- almost no color that morning.