Devo: Expressive Worship

I remember walking into a worship service as a little kid, maybe 8 years old, and seeing a woman lift her hands in worship. I thought it was the weirdest thing. It looks pretty funny when you’re in a crowd of people and you’re the only one with your hands in the air waving them around. I remember thinking, “is she reaching up, trying to touch God?”

Many years later, I tried it myself. Not reaching up to touch God, but lifting my hands in surrender. What’s crazy is I had been a worship leader for several years before I tried lifting my hands. I had been a worship leader for several years before I ever studied what expressive worship looks like in the Bible. Something changed in me when I did.

Although physical expression may not define worship, biblically speaking, it is a piece of it.

In Exodus 15, we see Moses singing in praise. In Psalm 134, the psalmist gives direction to lift your hands and bless the Lord. 2 Samuel 6 shows us David dancing with all his might. In Matthew 26, we find Jesus kneeling in prayer, and in Ephesians 6 we see Paul praying in the Spirit.

Get expressive. If Moses, David, Paul, and even Jesus changed their posture when interacting with God, there must be something to it. Don’t take my word for it, though, and don’t lift your hands for the sake of lifting your hands or kneel for the sake of kneeling. That’s just going through the motions. Look up the passages I just listed and find out WHY the fathers of our faith did those things.

Let your physical expression match your heart’s expression in worship!