A Habit of the Heart

Tomorrow is the twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost. Rising early this morning, I prayed again the prayer I offered earlier on the psalm for the day (145:1-8, see Prayers):

“'I will extol you, my God and King,' the psalmist begins. And he is obviously saying that, as one commentator puts it, 'as part of the cult community [that] responds with its unbroken hymnic tradition to that perpetual presence of the divine salvation, into which the poet wants to incorporate his song.'
"We, with the psalmist, must learn ever to sing in community, Lord—the community of your people, gathered not only in our place and time but in all ages before us and yet to come. We are not strong enough to sing your praise by ourselves. The fount of our song is in you and in all the people who belong to you—past, present, and future.
"Unless we fill our spirits with 'your mighty acts … the glorious splendor of your majesty … your wondrous works … your awesome deeds … the fame of your abundant goodness … [and] your righteousness,' what shall fuel our singing?
"Inhabit my spirit, Lord, with your Spirit, and join my voice to the voices of your saints in every age that together we may laud your name and proclaim your grace to the nations."

Worship, to be true, must be a habit of the heart. That means personal and warm. It also means communal, with other believers, both past and present. Above all, it means consistent and devotional, with focus on the One we worship, who has proven himself Sovereign over all other gods and thus worthy of worship and praise. As he alone is our hope for eternity, so he alone must be our Lord in time.