What is Worship?
Deuteronomy 10:14-22 (NLT)
“Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the LORD your God. Yet the LORD chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today.
Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn. “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.
He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.
You must fear the LORD your God and worship him and cling to him. Your oaths must be in his name alone. He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes. When your ancestors went down into Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky!
Deuteronomy 10:14-22 (NLT)
Pastor’s Blog
Worship is “getting it” that the first line in today’s passage applies to you. Worship is “getting it” , being flabbergasted that you can accurately substitute “me” for “your ancestors” in the first sentence.
Worship is being no longer stubborn before God as in paragraph two. It means pride goes. It means God is Lord over the seas that roar and the mountains that tower over all the earth. It means “getting it” that God is BIG and that I am small, really, really small. Worship means that God is the sun and I am a planet, not the other way around. It means that I’m no better than anyone (anyone!!!!) else. God is no more partial to me than to the lowest person on the human social totem pole. Worship means I don’t pray “If you . . . then I’ll” . . .God can’t be bribed. Anything that God does on my behalf is the result of his Love and grace . . . . period! Worship means I pray in awe to majesty, love and grace, beyond all comprehension, and when I bring my requests to Him, I expect nothing, I expect everything and I’m grateful in all things.
Worship means that I view the other guy, especially those worse off, as more important than I am.
Worship means worshiping YHWH, Jehovah, the God revealed in the Bible, God of gods and Lord of lords, the God who is creator, provider and Father. In short worship means getting God right and not re-creating Him in the image of 21st century sentimentalism. This requires reading the Bible to make sure we’re worshipping the right (the only) God.
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I like the way you put this. It's all about Him. We've created a God in our own image and then have the nerve to get cranky when He doesn't jump to fulfill our wants as though He were some sort of cosmic bellhop. I don't want a God like me, I don't want a God I can control. There is so much comfort in knowing His might and magnificance is beyond my comprehension. When the chips are down and there is no human way to deal with my circumstances I really can rest in the knowledge that He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than I can hope or imagine.
ReplyDeleteAmen!
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