Do You Have to Jump?

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. (Psalm 95:1-5 ESV). A popular contemporary chorus is worded: You gotta leap ya'll (Leap with it!) You gotta leap ya'll (Leap with it!) Take a leap of faith You gotta leap ya'll (Leap with it!) Come on jump for now Jump for me now Jump jump Jump for me now Jump for me now I have been in some services when this chorus was sung. As you may imagine it was not sung to a somber, slowly developing tune! The band struck the first lively notes and the music was off and running as quickly as possible. Soon, 500 people swayed up and down in a joyful, charismatic two-step with hands raised and faces turned upward. There were those who encouraged me to “jump” as well. I merely remembered that at my age lots of stuff can break if you land wrong after such exercise. Well, the writer of Psalm 95 might have enjoyed that worship service. The psalmist seems to leap with exuberant joy in appreciation for his great God and King. Clearly, for the psalmist, an integral connection exists between the spiritual, physical, and emotional. He offers us, even challenges us with an invitation to participate in demonstrative worship, worship that involves heart, voice, and body. Our church is more “traditional” in our praise. In fact, dancing might seem out-of-place, perhaps even irreverent. Neither of these two situations is good or bad. Worship can be felt deeply yet expressed differently among various congregations in various ways. Formal and informal churches have much to learn from one another. However, while both have their place, both may miss the mark if hearts are not tuned to the Spirit of God. The question for each of us is not what is our style of praise; but, do we truly praise God? Whatever your style, worship the Lord with heartfelt praise!