Have you ever wondered why people lift their hands in worship? For some people, lifting their hands is very natural and for others it feels strange and awkward. For my worship thought today, I decided to share a few of my thoughts on the subject.
When you encounter something new or different in a worship service, the first thing you should always ask yourself is “What does the Bible say about it?” In the case of lifting hands in worship, the Bible has quite a bit to say. A quick search yields over a dozen scriptures that talk about lifting holy hands to the Lord in worship or prayer. So, now that we’ve established that it’s Biblical, the next question might be “What’s the value of doing it?” Here are a few reasons that I’ve thought of, but I’m sure that there are many others.
The posture of lifted hands is a posture of surrender. What happens when a soldier wants to surrender to an invading army? He lifts his hands to indicate that he is turning himself over to the other side.
The posture of lifted hands is a posture of vulnerability. Think about all of the movies about the old west. The bad guys would always pull their guns and tell their victims to lift their hands to the sky. That action left the victims open and vulnerable before the gunmen. Maybe that’s not the greatest example in this context, but you get the point…
The posture of lifted hands is a posture of humility. It is a posture that a servant often adopts before a King to indicate his humble position in light of the King’s greatness.
The posture of lifted hands and open palms is the posture of one who is ready to receive. When we have a gift for our children, we often tell them to close their eyes and hold out their hands. They quickly obey in eager anticipation of what’s to come.
When we come before the Lord in worship, we need to come with humble hearts and open hands. We need to acknowledge the greatness of our Lord, and we need to be prepared to receive from him as He speaks to us. We need to be open and vulnerable about our heart condition, and we need to be ready to surrender our will to the will of our Heavenly Father.
By lifting our hands, we are aligning our outward appearance with the inward attitude of our heart. We are taking the focus off of ourselves and turning it towards the Lord. We are declaring with our hands that He must increase, and we must decrease.
“Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who minister by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord. May the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.” - Psalm 134
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