*Please review the previous posts Really Enter and Going Up.

Noise. With a desire to enter the presence of God in corporate worship, we are faced with noise and distraction. Wanting to climb the ladder, we get caught up in our expectation of a disruption free worship experience.

How can we have a meaningful worship experience in the midst of distraction?

Psalm 27:4 says:

אַחַת, שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת-יְהוָה–אוֹתָהּ אֲבַקֵּשׁ

שִׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית-יְהוָה, כָּל-יְמֵי חַיַּי

לַחֲזוֹת בְּנֹעַם-יְהוָה, וּלְבַקֵּר בְּהֵיכָלוֹ

“One thing I ask of the Lord, that will I seek: to dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to have a vision of the Lord’s beauty, and to break forth in His Temple.”

We want to ascend higher to experience the depth of prayer and song, to be embraced in the I and Thou; to know and be known. Worship.

We are here. They are here. He is here.

When we are present, tuned in to the life of the congregation, we begin to experience the distractions and noise differently. Rather than taking away from our worship experience, it all becomes a “hallelujah!”

As psalm 150:6 says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah!”

The environment now looks different. The movement, the cough, the crying, the chattering becomes the commotion of praise in the courts of His temple. On the wings of song and life we drift up the ladder effortlessly, higher into the presence and embrace of the Holy Spirit.

We behold the beauty of the Lord in the face of the other, in the chorus of voices, in the melodic cacophony of the improvisation that is human assembly, as we thunder with the heavenly choir: Holy! Holy! Holy!

Worship, my friends, is not found in decorum, but in life: in the breath. It is in the midst of the ensemble of the holy that we are embraced by the dwelling of God all the days of our life, and when that which we seek is truly found.

Be well. Shalom.

You can be in a space, and yet not be there. This is a common issue when it comes to corporate worship. We need to refocus. So often we carry our external concerns into worship space as an unintentional barrier, leading to disconnection; or we bring an impenetrable wall of expectation.

What can we do?

There is a teaching from the Talmud, Berakhot 28b, that is inscribed at the front of some synagogues on the Torah Ark (see picture below):

דע לפני מי אתה עומד

“Know before Whom you stand.”

Rashi comments that knowing before who you stand induces awe and concentration. On the highest level this is speaking of the Lord; but it can also be applied to those we stand among. How so?

Physical. Emotional. Spiritual.

In the congregation:

1. Physical: you are there.

2. Emotional: who is the other there with you?

3. Spiritual: He is there.

This speaks on the level of the soul, and the tripartite nature of men, and it directs away from self-awareness – self-centeredness – to corporate awareness and the Lord’s Presence. When we note the other in the space with us, those known or unknown to us, the refocusing mentioned above takes shape:

We are here. They are here. He is here.

Physically we note our presence in worship space. Emotionally we note the other, and their joys and concerns. Spiritually, we know that He is here, as Yeshua promised to be in our midst as Emmanuel:

“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20).

Here we stand before heaven and brethren, in awe of the heavenly reality, and the power of redemption witnessed among the saints of God. We can now concentrate, and enter in the dimension of worship, bringing others with us.

What do we do?

When entering the congregation, we must remember that it is one thing to enter the building; being present, however, is quite another.

1. When crossing the threshold recognize the change in space and dimension, between the common space and holy space.

2. Leave expectations before the outer door.

3. Attune to the dynamic of the congregation at the moment of arrival.

4. Enter in.

5. Then take it with you when you go.

6. But leave the bag of expectation where you dropped it, thanks.

I acknowledge this is not easy, especially in this age and season. Yet, when we change our thinking, perspective, and purpose by noting “before whom we stand,” the worship experience is freer, more meaningful, and life transformative because we have praised and worshipped in Spirit and truth (Jn. 4:23).

Be well. Shalom.