Nehemiah 8:5-8

Worship is the natural outpouring of inward realities. When you realize that God is great, you will worship Him as such. When you see Him accomplish an unbelievable thing, you will praise Him for it. If you have felt fear and terror, but have been comforted by the security His Sovereignty offers, you will praise Him. Worship is the natural outpouring of the realities of a relationship with a powerful God.
For months the people had been living under the threat of attack, but God had protected them. Every need they had along the way, He continued to provide for. He had given them a humble leader who had led them through some of the darkest days of their lives. God had taken care of His people.
As we get to verses 5-8, the people begin their worship of God. They have been under His protection and provision, and they now have the chance to hear directly from His Truth. So the meeting begins with hands up and heads down. And God was worshipped. This group of ragtag immigrants all hushed as Ezra “blessed the Lord, the Great God.”
He truly deserved to be praised for all He had done. He could have abandoned them. He could have allowed it to be more difficult for them. He could have allowed the neighboring tribes to invade. He could have allowed the work to remain unfinished. He could have allowed disunity to devastate the work. He could have allowed their crops to be ruined. But He didn’t. He was an all-powerful, all-loving God who had provided everything that they needed. Now they praised Him for it.
At times it is good for us to stop and open our hearts to the realities of what God is doing around us so that we can properly worship Him.
He has given us a never-ending list of blessings that we can worship Him for: health, family, daily provisions like clothes and food, friends, forgiveness for our sin, spiritual guidance in His Word, help in weakness, hope in sorrow, unending love and everlasting joy.
Perhaps today you just need to take a moment and with hands lifted and head bowed have a time of worship. The God Who has done all things and provided all good things deserves all the praise we can muster.

Food For Thought: List below some of the things that God has done for you in the past month.