The Role of Emotion in Worship

MeridithLeave a comment

About a year ago, you heard from me. If anyone is still reading, I hope to pick back up with more writing. I know I teased you with a bit of news…so here is some of it. In April 2025, I first learned about a Doctor of Ministry program at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in “The Arts, Ministry, and Mission.” I was accepted in 5 days and just 6 weeks later, I had completed about 10 books and boarded an airplane to Charlotte, North Carolina, for my first residency.

God used that step of faith to catapult our family into a whole new reality. Just a few months later, we packed up our lives in Oregon and journeyed East.

More about that at another time.

But consequently, in my reading for my second residency, there have been a series of questions I’ve been chewing on.

What does the role of emotion have in worship?

Can we encounter the living God and not have any emotion?

I would argue: No.

The Psalms: The Worshipbook of God’s People

The worshipbook of God’s people, the Psalms, is teeming with emotion: anger, frustration, joy, sadness, longing, hope, lament… the list could go on! If we use this as a guide for our worship today, we see the full spectrum of emotions the Psalmist feels, and we, too, as whole-bodied people, feel these things as well.

GLADNESS
Psalm 100:1-2 “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness…”

JOY
Psalm 16:11 “In your presence is fullness of joy...”

LONGING
Psalm 13:1-2 “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?”

SADNESS
Pslam 42:3 “My tears have been my good day and night…”

FEAR
Psalm 56:3 “When I am afriad, I put my trust in you.”

AWE
Psalm 8:3-4 “When I consider your heavens…what is mankind that you are mindful of them?”

CONTRITION
Psalm 32:5 “I acknowledged my sin to you…”

When we encounter God the Spirit in worship, we are met with our own finite smallness with the grandeur, holiness, wonder, and awe of the God we worship.

If we have met God in worship, we will experience emotion.

Has worship (particularly music) been used to manipulate emotion? Yes. Have other art forms been used to manipulate motion? Of course. BUT, that does not mean we try to avoid or manipulate an experience so that no emotion is present. That’s just not possible. (If you think otherwise, please prove me wrong!)

Gratitude

As Christians of the new covenant, our response in worship should be that of gratitude. When we ponder the love of God for us, who, while we were still sinners, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us, how can we not fall down in grateful worship for a God who would seek us out?

A God who would leave the 99 sheep for the lost one?

A God who, like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, lifts up his garments and RUNS to us (shameful! scandelous! something only children would do!).

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21

I choose today in gratitude to worship God with my whole heart and whole being: including my emotions.

Tap, Tap… anyone here?

MeridithLeave a comment

Do I even remember my password anymore?

YES. Okay. Good.

It’s so interesting how today, blogging is talked about like it’s some new thing… Monitizing. Views. Clicks. HA. I’ve been doing this for so long, but life gets in the way -Or not really in the way, but life is happening.

Then there’s Mom brain. I promise, it’s a thing. You literally lose brain cells (I just spelled cells as “sells” … chuckle).

But, pushing through the lack of brain cells and lack of sleep, I have so much to say. Words buried by… life. But they need to get out. On paper. Well, on a screen.

To be continued…

Courage in the Days of COVID-19

MeridithLeave a comment

Friends,

Yes, it’s been a quick minute, but I wanted to share with you some encouragement for the week ahead. My husband and I have collaborated to write a free five-day devotional on the topic of Courage and Fear.

Access it here for free.

I pray you are blessed by God’s word and encouragement this week. Remember: you are not alone.

Prayer of the Children

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When we page through our Bibles reading with a lens of our modern-day, western eyes, we often find ourselves perplexed, confused, or perhaps disgusted, particularly when reading the Old Testament. Death, blood, killing, war, and many more culturally confusing narratives fill these pages. Yet, we also we find a God who is sovereign, and in this ancient book, we find meaning, hope, and promise.

Many people (not just Christians, I might add) are deeply troubled hearing the recent ruling in NY, allowing women to now have late-term abortions. Proponents of this ruling argue there are parameters to this law, but those are vague.

It is interesting: the world we live in increasingly seems to mirror some of the tragic, perplexing, and outright disgusting stores we read in the Old Testament. Yet, instead of babies sacrificed to ancient gods, babies are now sacrificed on an altar of narcissism, selfishness, and in the name of being an educated, “modern”, forward-thinking society. BABIES ARE BEING KILLED and people smiling, rejoicing, and clapping about it. Celebrating it in the name of “women’s rights.”

When did life cease to be sacred? I suppose the answer is… slowly, for a while.

May God have mercy on us, weary sinners. May God have mercy on our nation.

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Prayer of the Children, by Kurt Bestor, Sam Cardon
Can you hear the prayer of the children?
On bended knee, in the shadow of an unknown room
Empty eyes with no more tears to cry
Turning Heavenward, toward the light
Crying Jesus, help me
To see the morning light of one more day
But if I should die before I wake,
I pray my soul to take
Can you feel the hearts of the children?
Aching for home, for something of their very own
Reaching hands, with nothing to hold on to,
But hope for a better day, a better day
Crying Jesus, help me
To feel the love again in my own land
But if unknown roads lead away from home,
Give me loving arms, away from harm
Can you hear the voice of the children?
Softly pleading for silence in a shattered world?
Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate,
Blood of the innocent on their hands
Crying Jesus, help me
To feel the sun again upon my face,
For when darkness clears I know you’re near,
Bringing peace again
Dali cujete sve djecje molitive?
Can you hear the prayer of the children?

Midnight Light, part 2

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The following is an excerpt from the free Advent devotional, Darkness & Light; download your free copy today.

December 11

Midnight Light, part 2

by Meridith Matson

Holocaust survivor and Jew Viktor Frankl survived Auschwitz, one of the most brutal concentration camps during World War 2. He was also a neurologist and psychiatrist and took his experience in the camp as a chance to understand human behavior. Frankl is most known for his book Man’s Search for Meaning, originally titled in German: trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen: Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager. That is, “…Nevertheless Say ‘Yes’ to Life: A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp.”

Frankl observed three stages of most prisoners: shock, apathy, and lastly reactions to dehumanization. Ultimately, the prisoner’s ability to survive depended entirely on their outlook and inner world. If the prisoners had a hope for the future and a reason to hold on in their spirit, they would survive. If all hope was lost, they were destined to die in the camp one way or another.

Frankl writes about one memory in particular:

“We stumbled on in the darkness, over big stones and through large puddles, along the one road leading from the camp. The accompanying guards kept shouting at us and driving us with the butts of their rifles. Anyone with very sore feet supported himself on his neighbor’s arm. Hardly a word was spoken; the icy wind did not encourage talk[…]

That brought thoughts of my own wife to mind. And as we stumbled on for miles, slipping on icy spots, supporting each other time and again, dragging one another up and onward, nothing was said, but we both knew: each of us was thinking of his wife. Occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my wife’s image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise.

A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth—that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.”

Reflection: How has love been an instrument of light and salvation for you in times of darkness?

Midnight Light, part 1

MeridithLeave a comment

The following is an excerpt from the free Advent devotional Darkness & Light; download your free copy today.

December 10

Midnight Light, part 1

by Meridith Matson

The Jewish holocaust during World War 2 is perhaps one of the darkest times in most recent history. The mass murder of over 6 million Jews and other persecuted demographics left a haunting mark over human history. Humans killing and dehumanizing other humans is truly the darkest darkness that exists. The images and films of those beaten in the streets, taken captive, and forced into concentration camps, and the bare, skeletal ghosts of those who were still alive in these camps at the end of the war are etched on our minds.

This chapter of history leaves a stain of darkness. A time of “midnight” when it seemed the sun may not ever shine again.

Yet, darkness is where the light shines through. In the darkest darkness, sparks of hope still existed. Etched on the wall of a cellar in a concentration camp, these words of an unknown prisoner were found:

“I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining.
And I believe in love,
even when there’s no one there.
And I believe in God,
even when he is silent.”

Reflection: In what ways have you had to wrestle with belief versus reality in your own times of darkness?

Darkness Overcome

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The following is an excerpt from the free Advent devotional Darkness & Light. 

December 3

Darkness Overcome

by Meridith Matson

Both darkness and light are themes throughout Scripture. Beginning with the opening of the Bible in Genesis 1 and 2, we watch expectantly as God calls order in an environment of chaos and speaks: “Let there be light” into complete and utter darkness.

Darkness can be chilling, isolating, depressing, and hopeless. Light brings warmth, hope, and causes the unseen to become seen. John says: “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). God himself is light, so where God is, there is light, and where God is not, there is darkness.

The prophet Isaiah says this: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” This, of course, foretold the birth of Christ, and that this event would bring light to people walking in deep darkness. Did the people know they were walking in darkness at the time of the prophecy? Did the first-century Jews know they were walking in darkness and realize when the light of Christ’s presence on earth finally dawned?

John also writes:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5. HCSB)

The darkness did not overcome the light, yet darkness had to exist to be overcome. Darkness was not created: in Genesis 1, the earth simply was dark and God spoke into the darkness to create light. John, bringing to mind the language of Genesis 1, also begins with creation, darkness, and light but also puts Christ, the Word, with God in the beginning. Once again, God continues to bring light into darkness, proving the light is more powerful than the darkness.

 

Reflection​​: How have you struggled with darkness during different seasons of your life and how did you work through those seasons? Consider how seasons of darkness make seasons of light brighter.

Darkness & Light

MeridithLeave a comment

With Advent just around the corner beginning on Sunday, December 2, a few friends and I have a gift for you this season: a free, reflective devotional. Collaboration across oceans, made possible by technology, this is our labor of love to friends and family.

During this busy time of the year, make space for reflection as we ponder once again the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

Darkness & Light Advent Devotional 2018

I know…

MeridithLeave a comment

I know, I know. My blogging isn’t exactly a regular thing for me these days. With moving, starting new jobs, and both pursuing education, my husband and I don’t exactly have much “extra” time on our hands. And when we do… find us on the couch watching This is Us or outside going for a walk or in the kitchen cooking #priorities.

BUT, this is the time of year you all know I blog the most… Advent! Advent is a special time for me personally and an opportunity for us all to slow down, pause, and tell the story once again about a baby born in a manger 2,000 years ago.

Stay tuned for a special FREE reflective Advent devotional, put together by me and a few friends. Take a moment each day during this busy season, and reflect on the one who came to bring light and into our dark, sin-filled world. More to come…

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Lessons from the birds

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Yesterday I was thinking about the birds.  They never go hungry and they are all within the loving eye gaze of our Heavenly Father.

Today as I bustled around the house putting things away and cleaning, I heard a rather loud thump outside our bedroom window.  I walked over and upon further examination, just beneath our window, I saw a small, brown bird, fluttering and moving about, trying to get up after flying (crashing) into the window.  The sheer volume of the collision made me wonder if the crash had injured it beyond recovery.

I caught myself by surprise as I verbally spoke to it – “Get up!”

“Get up, you can do it.”

I am not an animal person, but today, I was.

My eyes began to well with tears as I watched it, trying and trying to pull itself up, and after a few more moments of straining, it stopped moving completely, and laid it’s head down.

I couldn’t believe it – a bird died all alone, right in front of my eyes.  (This is coming from someone who only had one dog growing up.  My sisters and I were all devastated when she died – I just can’t handle any kind of suffering.)

Then a few hours later, I remembered… yesterday I was thinking about the birds.  And worry.

Look at the birds in the sky. They do not store food for winter. They don’t plant gardens. They do not sow or reap—and yet, they are always fed because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are even more precious to Him than a beautiful bird. If He looks after them, of course He will look after you. Worrying does not do any good; who here can claim to add even an hour to his life by worrying?

Matthew 6:26-27, The Voice

Oh, how I worry.  I worry about anything and everything.  What people think about me, what I will eat, how I will accomplish this or that… some days, it consumes me.

And then there was this bird.  Seen.  Fed by God.  The bird that died in front of me (and its body is still on the roof in front of our window… we should probably do something about that soon).  And how much more than this bird are we, mankind, known, loved, cared for and seen by our Heavenly Father.  Humans made in God’s image, of course he cares so deeply for us.  He sent his only son for us, to die and rise again, so we could be adopted into his family and redeemed.

There is no reason to worry.

Yesterday I was thinking about the birds, but today I am thinking about how loved and cared for we are by our Heavenly Father.

“So why should I worry?  Why do I freak out?  God knows what I need, he knows what I need.” – Jon Foreman

lessons from the birds