When I Worship

I wrote this as a spoken word piece, much more effective to be heard with a bit of emotion and passion in my voice and with the words flowing the way I think they should. Perhaps someday I will get a chance to record this on a platform such as You Tube and can re-post if it turns out well.

Just a note. I believe that worship should be directed to God and it is all about Him, not us or our needs. So by that standard this is not really a worship poem because it focuses quite a bit on what "I" experience in worship. Yet on the other hand, in the proclaimation it does at the same time exalt "Him", which is what I desire to do in all things.


When I worship

It is not a thing I do with insinuation of obligation to simply
make a declaration of my imagination

When I worship

It is not just words in a book or scrolls on a screen with
melody and harmony to determine my ultimate spiritual destiny

When I worship

Whether it's part of a congregation or in a situation
where I am alone, I am alone

with Him

the Cornerstone who has shone through the contusions of confusions
that come to all because of the world and the flesh and the devil

When I worship

I speak or sing directly to the Father in the name of His Son
and pour out to Him and to the One all that is within

When I worship

I don't condescend to pretend that without Him
I could in any way ascend close to where He
contends for the souls of men

When I worship

I close my eyes to take off the disguise that we all surmise

When I worship

I picture a tapestry of Jesus reigning in all His majesty
with thunderous sounds and golden crowns
the plenitudes of multitudes singing to the Son

Glory, Glory, Glory

and

Holy, Holy, Holy

and

Worthy, Worthy, Worthy is the lamb
who shed his blood for the sins of man
who was and is and is to come

When I worship

I'm not ashamed to feel the churning and burning
of tears while I surrender my fears

When I worship

I may groan and even moan
sometimes in languages I've not known
because He is the One who for me did atone
for all of the rebelling that had been welling inside

When I worship

I am not better than you or more holy than you
but I am being true to what He has called me to do

When I worship

Hands raised and eyes closed and heart open
I am not hoping for some pie in the sky
in the dear bye and the bye with no reason why

When I worship

I am surrendering all that I am
the past and the present and whatever I plan
to the Father and to Jesus Christ the Lamb

And it is in those moments

Submitted before Him in the civility of humility
that I feel His gentleness and experience a love
that can only come from Him and His kingdom above

When you get to the nitty-gritty
my worship may not be that pretty

Whether head in my hands
or fist raised while I stand
declaring to the Great I Am

You have washed away my stain
You have broken every chain
You have both redeemed me and esteemed me
and there is nothing else that remains

When I worship

I am the man He created me to be