What To Do When You’re Not Feeling Worshipful

What To Do When You’re Not Feeling Worshipful

Psalm 40:1-3

February 16, 2014

It’s been a rough week. It was super cold outside, it snowed, the kids were sick, the car wouldn’t start, the pipes froze, the furnace couldn’t keep up with the cold. And now it’s Sunday morning and you are laying in bed, nice and cozy and comfy. The kids are still sleeping and the last thing you want to do is wrestle them up, fix breakfast and make sure they’re all on good behavior, because it’s Sunday morning and it’s time for church.

OR

It’s been a rough week, you were laid off from your job, or maybe you were fired. The bills are going to pile up and you don’t know where to turn. You’re depressed and anxious, you’re not sleeping well . . . but it’s Sunday, and it’s time to worship.

OR

You have been sick all week. It’s been the flu. Nobody really knows about it, because you don’t broadcast your life on Instagram and Facebook. But you’re feeling down. You feel tired, but physically you’re a little better, but it’s Sunhday, and it’s time to worship.

OR

You fill in the blank . . .

It’s Sunday! It’s time to worship! But, if you were to be really, really honest, you don’t feel it. You’re not in the mood to worship. You’re grumpy, you just don’t want to be here. It’s nothing against Christ, it’s nothing against the people, but you think the church would be better off without one more grump. You don’t want to snap at anyone, and you really don’t want to put on a happy face, but, it’s Sunday, so you’re just going to put on a happy face. Wear you happy mask, and pretend that all is well, even when you know and others know — not all is well.

What do you do?

You’re here for Sunday School — but you’re not feeling it.

Worship begins — you’re still not feeling it.

There’s no awe of God. No desire for Him. Nothing.

No desire to smile and feel His joy.

You really don’t want to greet anyone. You don’t want to give!

And you’re not in the mood to receive, because what if you don’t

But you’re here!

Have you ever been there? What do you do when you’re just not feeling it.

Should you go through the motions anyway? Or should you leave and try again next week?

I want to look at 1 main scripture. There are so many more that we could look at, but this is what God is leading me to talk about. In Psalm 40, David wrote ~

1 I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry.

2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

Do you hear where David is at in this Psalm. In verse 2, he told us where he was at. He was in the pit of destruction, he was in the miry bog. What’s a miry bog? Picture being in a soaking wet, muddy field, it’s not fit for crops to grow. Your feet are stuck, the mud is sucking your shoes into the ground. It’s not a pleasant experience.

I was there one time. Before Debbie and I had children, we would sometimes go looking at really nice homes when they had open houses. Or we would stop and pick up one of those flyers telling you about the home and the price. One time, we stopped at a house, and I hopped out to pick up a flyer, and I didn’t realize I was about to step into a miry bog. And my foot literally sank into the mud and my shoe was stuck in the mud, so much to the point, we immediately drove to a K-mart and Debbie bought me a pair of cheap sandals to wear. So, if you’ve ever been there, you know your not in a good place.

David was not feeling the worship. Life wasn’t going as planned. Yet, something happened, something changed for David so much so that he tells us in verse 3, God put a new song in his mouth.

So what happened between feeling stuck in the mud — and singing praise to God?

The clue comes in verse 1. David tells us he did two things that we think are opposites. He waited patiently for the Lord AND he cried out to the Lord.

We could think waiting patiently for the Lord means passively hoping He will change us. That it means we stand frustrated in line at the store. Or we angrily wait while we are on hold with customer service. But the Hebrew word really means to seek with eagerness and expectancy. It’s waiting, yet doing it with an expectation that the Lord will help and respond to our cries for help.