(The only kind of true worship there is.)
“Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.” Ecclesiates 5:1-2
THE BENEFIT OF REVERENT WORSHIP: “be more ready to hear” = hearing. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) A person can have ears to hear, and yet not be hearing God’s Word. Reverent worship calls for both regarding and making the response that God’s Word calls for.
THE PERSONAL DISCIPLINE REQUIRED FOR WORSHIP: “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God”, v1. God requires the individual to hold themselves responsible to have Christian conduct, yea, zeal and interest in themselves, to promote the reverent worship of God.
THE VIOLATIONS (VIOLATORS) OF WORSHIP: “…for they consider not that they do evil”, v1. Those who violate the sanctity of worship or fail to involve themselves, don’t see that they have a problem. They consider the “difference” between themselves and what is going on, just to be the hang-up of others. Many fail (care not) to perceive that what may be permissible conduct in secular gatherings, falls way short of the reverence, carefulness, attentiveness and holiness involved in the worship of God in spirit and in truth.
THE OPPONENTS OF WORSHIP: “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God”, v2. The attainment to reverent worship can be completely frustrated by the lack of depth, preparation and/or self-restraint. There needs to be prayer, study, forethought, and discrimination, so as to eliminate ramblings, confusion, error and imprudence. We are to diginify God, rather than just be given over to fitful impulse.
THE ATTAINMENT OF WORSHIP: “…for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth”, v2. The object of worship is to be in communion with God; to walk on holy ground; to partake of spiritual meat; to divest ourselves of all of our preoccupations and assumptions; to come to an open heart and mind to seek and receive what God has to convey.
REVERNT WORSHIP is so fundamental to the faith of Christianity, that we must not allow ourselves to become weak-kneed about it. DON’T let your kids develop habits of sleeping in church. WAKE THEM UP, and keep them awake. Teach them to worship God in church. To be a spiritual dead head in church is to let everything spiritual pass you by.
SHARING
