Be Discoverable
It struck me as I was reading Psalm 139 yesterday that being discoverable is perhaps one of the most essential ingredients to what the Bible really calls “worship.”
David begins the Psalm with the admission that, with or without out our permission, God knows us. God sees all, knows all, is in every place at every moment and is the Creator of it all. He knows our thoughts, our bodies, our motives, our secrets, our ambitions, our guilty pleasures, our intentions, our hurts, our history and our inclinations. This is just reality.
But knowing He knows us is not enough to lead us to a place of worship.
What can lead to worship, however, is the level of discoverability we offer to the Lord.
There’s a difference between someone “knowing me” and me opening myself up to another. You could know a secret about me before I tell it to you. But that wouldn’t mean we’re close. Only my act of intentional confession, one where I’m making myself radically known to you for the purpose of comfort, union, accountability and help, is the only way to enter into intimate relationship.
So David rightly ends this Psalm with this offering:
Psalm 139:23-24 | NIV
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Even though David knows God already knows him, he makes the move to offer himself to the Lord specifically. David gives God an invitation to his heart. David welcomes the eyes of his Father to come and scan all the secret places of his soul. With open palms David lays his life before the Lord. He invites the Lord’s testing and is willing to be exposed.
Worship can’t happen unless this step is made. But there’s still one more step to make:
A willingness to be lead.
After we offer our hidden parts back to the Creator, in order for worship to be worship, we must cross that one final bridge that many see but not all are willing to cross—a willingness to follow where Jesus leads. A will that is unhardened and shapable to the point where my tongue, eyes, feet and hands physically go and do what my Rabbi has done and step where He’s calling me to step.
This is worship. And it begins with being discoverable to the Lord.
Maybe your next step in your worship journey is simply carving out time to sit before the Lord and make yourself known to Him. It doesn’t matter if He already knows it. He does. But it’s essential for you to sit with Him and say it.
My challenge for myself and for us all this week is to memorize Psalm 139:23-24 and say it every morning as your daily prayer. And each day, offer an ever-increasing amount of yourself back to Him and listen for where He’s leading.