Last week we looked at Psalm 43 and the “anticipation” aspect of worship. Continuing through the Psalms this week, I want to look at the theme of our vision – what our eyes look upon. The essence of worship is a response to who God is. It’s an effect of seeing Him – His attributes. In order to be pure, set-apart worshipers, we need to discipline our eyes to behold the right things. Consider these two verses:

“Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word” (Psalm 119:35-47).

Also,

“I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8).

I find this incredibly stirring. David had caught a glimpse of the beauty of God and the last thing he wanted was to be distracted from it. He knew his flesh was weak. If he spent time looking at “worthless” things, he knew his heart would be drawn away from what was truly beautiful; namely, the word of God.

What if we prepared our hearts for weekend worship by spending less time looking at worthless things? What if we allowed the beauty of creation to stir our worship? The Word of God? What if we chose to say ‘no’ to certain, legitimate pleasures in order to feast upon the greatness of God?

I know that Jesus is all satisfying and the more we gaze upon his glory, the more satisfied lives we will live.

This is Wilson. He is my foster brother. My sister just sent me this picture because I guess he is listening to my music and smiling because of its sheer awesomeness. Maybe not. But he is smiling. He tends to make loud noises whenever I sing. He loves music.

Wilson has many horrible physical problems. He was shaken traumatically as a baby and doesn’t have much brain function. He is also blind. He cannot do anything (I mean anything) on his own.

In spite of all that, he may be the happiest person I have ever met. Not joking. He has the biggest smile and the most contagious laugh, even though he doesn’t always know what is going on. If you have never met Wilson, you really need to. He could change your life.

Never take for granted all that you have. If you tend to get down easily with issues in your life, hanging out for a few minutes with an amazing person like Wilson may teach you the most profound truths about life.