Come Before Him with Joyful Singing

Summer is for lazy days, swimming, family vacations, trips to the park…and Vacation Bible School. My eight-year-old is attending VBS this week and, as usual, is loving it. He invited his best friend to go with him, and the two of them have a blast together while learning about God, missions, and serving others.

Most years, I’m there working as a volunteer, caught up in the busyness that often borders on chaos. Herding children, filing registration forms, preparing snacks — there are plenty of opportunities for the adult volunteers to learn about serving others, too! But this year, I’m not part of the program. Camden gets dropped off and picked up and I have a few hours with my one-year-old in between. It’s a nice change of pace, especially since I’m sure I’ll be back in the thick of it next year.

One added bonus this year is that I have the opportunity to “spy” on the kids during their opening or closing programs each day. They always start and end the VBS day with singing, and the songs are a perfect combination of energy and truth, made to both inspire and impact the kids. I watch the room full of children with awe. Each child is singing and doing the motions to the songs. Each one is fully engaged. No one is looking around, worried about what others are thinking. No one is standing with arms crossed or a scowling face. They’re singing from the heart, praising God. And I can’t help but think that they are truly fulfilling Psalm 100:1-2:

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.
Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.

Then I wonder what someone would think if they were peeking in at a typical adult worship service. Would they see every person engaged, every individual focused on praising God? Sadly, probably not.

I have to admit that I’m sometimes there in body, but not in mind. I’ve been known to sing with my mouth while pondering what I’ll make for dinner. I may greet those around me, but wonder if they’re secretly criticizing my wardrobe or appearance. I listen to the message with my ears but mull over worries in my heart.

From experience, I’ve learned that the solution to my lack of true, fully-engaged worship is two-pronged: preparation and self-discipline. Ideally, I should begin preparing myself for the worship service on Saturday evening. I can read God’s word, and ask Him to prepare my heart and my mind for the next morning. I can deal with unresolved issues, turn my worries over to God, and examine myself to see if there are any other distractions that I need to eliminate. Once I’m at church, I need to be self-disciplined, to control my mind. I need to choose to keep my focus on the One I’m there to worship.

I know that worship is something that doesn’t just happen at church. Worship is how we live our lives. It happens when we glorify God, seek Him, tell others about the wonderful things He’s done. But we also have the opportunity to join together with others on a regular basis in order to worship God through singing and the teaching of His word. Surely that time of corporate worship is worth my attention, my preparation, and my self-discipline.

I want to be like those VBS kids — caught up in my love for God, singing to Him without worry or reservation. I want to serve Him with gladness and come before Him with heartfelt, joyful singing. Don’t you?

For discussion: How have you dealt with distractions (internal or external) at church? How have you been able to keep your focus on God despite what’s going on around or inside you?