Old Insights Into Worship
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Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Heavenly Connection
Old Insights Into Worship
by Tim Hall
If any one concept could capture the essence of
religion, it would likely be worship. Most will
admit that "religion", according to God's word, is
more than worship, but this event is certainly the
most dynamic aspect of our faith. It is our
opportunity to approach God in a powerful and
life-transforming way. It is for good reasons that
we seek to make our worship more personal and
real.
Perhaps we can learn more about the experience of
worship by looking at two towering figures of
faith in the Old Testament, Abraham and Moses.
Abraham - Worship In All Life's Situations: In
Genesis 22, God presented Abraham with one of the
hardest demands given to any human being. Isaac
was the son of whom Abraham and Sarah had dreamed
for decades. Having to wait so long for his
arrival only made their bond with him stronger.
Now, however, God's command was confusing: "Take
now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there
as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of
which I shall tell you" (Genesis 22:2, NKJV).
What a long night that must have been as Abraham
wrestled with the prospect of killing his own son!
But "early in the morning" (v. 3) he arose and set
off on the three-day journey to Moriah. When the
site of the sacrifice was in view, Abraham told
his servants, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad
and I will go yonder and worship; and we will come
back to you" (v. 5).
Here is a lesson about worship worth
contemplating. Though God's order was hard and
seemingly inconsistent with the Divine nature,
Abraham obeyed. He did not tell his servants that
he must "obey that command", or "go do his
religious duty". Abraham's purpose was worship,
humbling himself in the presence of the Almighty,
though his soul probably considered rebellion. God
is always worthy of our worship - even when we
can't understand his will. We should imitate the
example of this man of faith who said with his
actions, "Your will, not mine, be done."
Moses - The Intent To Worship: "Please, show me
Your glory," was the request Moses made of God
(Exodus 33:18). Though humans are not capable of
seeing the full glory of the Lord, Moses was given
a glimpse. The account of God revealing Himself to
Moses in Exodus 34:1-8 is dramatic as well as
revealing of the nature of Jehovah.
When the Lord descended in the cloud to show His
glory to Moses, the man was understandably
overwhelmed. But note this statement in Exodus
34:8: "So Moses made haste and bowed his head
toward the earth, and worshiped." Worship did not
take place until Moses intended for it to be
offered and then delivered it.
Our ideas of worship are often different. It is
sometimes said that we worship God at all times,
in everything we do. That's not the idea in this
passage (nor in any other in the Bible). Instead,
worship is something that is deliberately intended
and then performed. Elsewhere (e.g. John 4:20-24)
we learn that worship must be offered according to
God's directions. But even when we act according
to His pattern, is it worship if it does not arise
from the intent to honor God and glorify his name?
Mindless ritual has never been God's desire.
But, really, should we be looking back thousands
of years to learn how to worship? According to
God's word, it is appropriate (not to mention
wise): "Now all these things happened to them as
examples, and they were written for our
admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have
come" (1 Corinthians 10:11).
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