“The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior, who will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, who will sing joyfully because of you.”
Zephaniah 3:17 (NAB)
Zephaniah tells us everything we need to know to inspire us to worship. He says that our Mighty Savior is in our midst, and He rejoices over us and renews us in His love. In essence, we worship God for how good He is, and how He loves us, more than for what He does for us.
Jesus renews us in His love, and everyone needs constant renewal. Problems, worries, illness and pain can spiritually wear down all the faith, hope and love that we have. We need to be regularly renewed in God’s love, and that happens through worship.
I remember once being in a church where a beautiful worship song was frequently sung. The lyrics say, “surely the presence of the Lord is in this place…I can hear the brush of angel wings, I see glory in each face….” The song reminds us of many unseen realities. We need to remind ourselves that worship is ongoing in Heaven.
Worshipping God is every angel’s sole desire, so when we worship, it attracts angels to us. We can worship God anywhere, but there is something sacred about the gathering of a group of believers in church. Jesus said that when two or more people gather in His name, He is in their midst. When we worship in church, we should have a heightened awareness of His presence.
This past weekend, while I was in church, the bread and wine was being consecrated, reciting the words that Jesus spoke. I was sitting in the end seat of a pew, with no one bedside be, and at that moment, I felt a gentle puff of air, a breeze brushed by me as if someone quickly passed by. I looked at the aisle on my right, to see if anyone was there, but there was no one. Then I looked up to see if there was a vent in the ceiling, that may have blown air on me, but there were no vents. I know I felt a fresh breeze of air, so I wondered if it was an angel or angels walking toward the altar of the church, at that sacred moment.
There is an entire world of beings that we do not see, and I thought about how the presence of God is always with us, but especially in church. So much is happening in the invisible realm, even though we are unaware. We could be chatting, distracted or even thinking about what we need to do after church, and all the while, oblivious to the presence of the Holy Spirit.
I was not super focused on that invisible realm at that moment, until I felt that mysterious breeze brush by me. It reminded me that Heaven comes down to join us in worship. Angels, though unseen, may be standing at the altar of our church each week. Worship evokes action from Heaven, and they respond to our worship, if only we had eyes to see it or ears to hear it.
The apostle John had a detailed vision of Heaven. He described all kinds of action that goes on 24/7. Revelation records that there were twenty-four elders bowing down before the Lamb, who is Jesus. Each of those elders were holding a harp, as well as golden bowls full of incense, which contain the “prayers of the saints.” Scripture often uses the word saints to refer to all believers. (Revelation 5:8)
According to John’s vision, our prayers are collected in golden bowls, burning fragrant incense before the throne of Jesus. It all revolves around worship, where there is kneeling, bowing, singing, fragrant incense, harps and other instruments playing to worship God continuously.
The scripture today is a reminder that Jesus, our Savior, is in our midst and He rejoices in gladness over each one of us, renewing us in His love. If we can keep our focus on those words and John’s vision, we can redirect our focus to unite with Heaven and worship the Lamb when we are in church.
I wasn’t very focused on that unseen realm, until I felt the puff of air or an angel brush by me in that moment. If we could be more aware of His presence and all that is taking place in the amazing but invisible realm around us, we might have a richer experience in church during worship. After writing this meditation, I found the attached video, someone made at a nearby church, showing angels present.
Lord, thank you reminding us that so much is happening in the invisible realm all around us. Increase our faith to always focus on your presence when we worship. Amen
(A video taken at a neighborhood church)
Angels caught on camera at St. John Brebeuf Church Niles Il – YouTube
(The worship song )
Surely the Presence of the Lord is in This Place – Don Marsh (Lyrics) – YouTube