How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Psalm 84: 1,2.

A striking feature of worship in the Bible is that people gathered in what we could call a `holy expectancy’. God actually spoke to his people in worship. The Psalmist in Psalm 84, who may have been a Levite barred for some reason from offering worship in the temple, longs to be in the house of the Lord again. Fellowship with the living God for him is not a chore, but a necessity. ‘Going to church’ is lovely, not because of the glory of the building or the aesthetics of the liturgy, but because there he meets his King and God. Just as refreshing rains turn a wilderness into a place of springs, so worship causes his barren life to be fruitful again, or, to change the metaphor, gives him strength for the journey. One day spent in communion with God in this special place is better than a thousand elsewhere. To be a humble servant for God in his house is a higher honour than to be special guest in any other setting.

Lord, as an act of worship I quicken my conscience by your holiness, feed my mind with your truth, purge my imagination by your beauty, open my heart to your love, and devote my will to your purpose. Amen.