Ecclesiastes 3 clearly tells us there is a time for everything: a time to be born, die, plant, uproot, kill, heal, tear down, build, weep, laugh, mourn, dance, scatter and gather stones, embrace and refrain, search, give up, keep, throw away, tear, mend, silence, talk, love, hate, war and peace.  Pretty much covers it all, huh?  But as I ponder this, there seemed to be something missing, or is there? What about worship and praise to God? Certainly some of the best times in my life have been truly worshipping in His Holy Presence. We sing, “Come, Now Is The Time To Worship” but is there a time to withhold praise?  Why did wise Solomon seem to cover everything but worship? 

 Do we always feel like worshiping?  David didn’t.  We follow his life from one Psalm to the next.  Many times there are words of praise and worship coming from his lips: “I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” (Psalms 146:2)  And then there are times where he questions whether or not the Lord is actually there!  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalms 22:1)  That doesn’t sound like a praise and worship service in the cave to me. It’s total desperation!  Before we judge, let’s be honest…how many times have we not had the desire, or energy to worship God?  When times are good, it’s easy to worship our Creator.  When times are bad it can be one of the most difficult things we have to do.  Notice I said, “have to do.”  Worship is not an option when we serve a God as great as we do.  1 Chronicles 16:29 says to “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name.  Bring an offering and come before him; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.”

 It was August of 2001, when I received a phone call that changed the landscape of my life, as I knew it.  My father suffered a heart attack and suddenly died at age 63.  No more talking to him... no more seeing him during the holidays… or any other day for that matter.  In an instant, life had changed for my entire family.  Two weeks after his funeral I was returning home from leading worship in Mobile, Alabama.  On the way to the airport, I was shocked to receive the news that our country was under attack, and that all flights were grounded. The date was September 11^th!  There I was, 2 weeks after burying my dad, stuck in a hotel, unable to travel home to my wife. I had to watch the horror unfold on TV alone during the time when I wanted to be with my family more than ever. Was that also a time to worship?  To be honest, I completely shut down.  There was no praise on my lips.  It was hard.  Have you felt like that? Do you feel like that now? Let me remind you that God is able to do more than we ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20)!  In His goodness, and in His time, He brought me to a new place in Him.  The first song He allowed me to write after my father’s death was a song entitled, “There Are Times”.  I hope when you feel like you can’t worship, or simply don’t want to worship, that you can make the declaration in this song:  “When I don’t want to praise, I will praise You more!” because He IS still worthy!

 

“There are times, Lord, when I wonder where You are,
There are times, Lord, when it seems You are so far away.
There are times, Lord, when I don’t want to sing,
There are times, Lord, when it’s hard for me to bring my love, and my honesty to You.
But when I don’t want to praise, I will praise You more,
If I run out of love, I will love You more,
And I’ll bring my honesty to You.”

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