The Emotional Worship Conundrum

Tonight I went for a walk...kind of a later walk then I would normally take but I made the mistake of having Starbucks late in the day and thought it might help use up some of the lingering (albeit totally worth it) caffeine...As I was walking I looked up and noticed the absolutely breathtaking clear night sky filled to overflowing with so many brilliant stars, one could not count them in a lifetime.   A view I don't normally miss due to earlier walks.   All of a sudden I was completely overcome with gratitude.    Gratitude that the Lord would choose to, in all His glory and majesty, love us.    That with all His power and Majesty He still chose to sacrifice His son....that He would have done it all for even one of us.   It blows me away.  My eyes filled with tears and I spent the next few moments in thankful praise.       It brought to mind this question, What place does emotion have in a worship experience?     I recently have had a few different conversations with people about this topic.   One of those conversations was with my sister who visited from California recently.    We were discussing the worship service we attended at my church and she stated how she does not like emotional worship experiences because to her, worship isn't about the emotions but rather the act of praise, and sometimes the emotional piece of it can become a distraction or a forced reaction...and can also take away from the Biblical foundation because we base truth on how we feel rather then what the Bible says.    It really got me thinking about my own approach to worship, both leading and congregational.     It can be very easy to make emotion the focus....Letting emotion induce the atmosphere rather then the atmosphere induce emotion.   In other words, allowing the Holy Spirit to move and in His doing so, bring about a genuine emotional response, rather then forcing an emotional interaction with the Father to make oneself feel as though they had a true worship experience.    

  I googled the topic and at least a dozen articles popped up on the subject.   People questioning emotions in worship, people promoting or criticizing it...My personal take is this... I think that all people are different.   No two relationships with the Father are the same...and I believe as a result of this we all respond differently to the moving of His Spirit.     The key to a worship experience....music or otherwise, is that the presence of the Lord is there and that your heart be purposed to bring Him glory, show Him gratitude, and stand in a place of reverent expectation.    Whatever that may look like.  I do believe though, that in sweet moments with the Lord where He shows us more of His heart, or reveals something to us that we needed to hear, causing us to repent.   Or times when we feel close to Him and feel the warmth of His embrace, or spend time in intercession for another in need.... Some of these things can, and even should bring out an emotional response.     He is not reliant nor dependent on our emotional state.    He does not change because we feel Him more one day then the next.   He is not trying to be relevant or trendy.    He is everlasting and His love for us never changes.   But I do believe that when the Spirit moves, it can change our experience....it can help to move our heart towards Him....to soften a tough spot, to tear down a wall, to build a bridge or bring healing.     If we start out in worship with the intention of being brought to tears, then we are not really ready for what the Spirit has for us.   But remaining vulnerable to His moving, may just take us into new territory.   This morning during our worship service, there was a woman who was so overcome with joy that she spent much of one of the songs in laughter....it was the most precious thing and brought me to a place of joy because it was so evident that her laughter was the overflow of her heart.   Not a forced reaction but an involuntary response.   By nature I am an emotional person but I find it so contagious when those around me are filled with joy, gratitude, and reverence toward the Lord.   It even sometimes it can help to pull me out of a place of complacency, or distraction.    Psalm 98:4-9 says 

4

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,

    burst into jubilant song with music;

5 

make music to the Lord with the harp,

    with the harp and the sound of singing,

6 

with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—

    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

7 

Let the sea resound, and everything in it,

    the world, and all who live in it.

8 

Let the rivers clap their hands,

    let the mountains sing together for joy;

9 

let them sing before the Lord,

    for he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

    and the peoples with equity 

Worship is the Bible has many uses, many places of prevalence and it is not always the cry for help or shout of joy.  Sometimes music is used as a weapon against the enemy and sometimes it is used as a battle cry.   Other times it is an overflow of praise to the King of Kings.   But I cannot help but wonder if there were not some tears of joy as this Psalm was sung.   If there wasn't some laughter as these words were lifted up the the Father.    He knows the heart of man....and if it is for Him, then let every tear, every cry, every laugh, every shout, be for His glory.