Bowing in Worship

Psalm 95:6-7

O come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and prayer]. For He is our God And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice.

Yes! He is Lord, Lord of all and He is the One Who created us.

Colossians 1:16

for in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Notice, He created us for Himself, for His good pleasure and placed us in His pasture, the Garden of Eden where He promised and intended to care for us. He asked that we love Him and in our loving Him, obey Him. Solid, uncomplicated, real relationship. Culture can so influence how we understand worship and how we see ourselves as worshippers of God. It can enhance our understanding but it can also distort it. Researching the word "worship" has been such an interesting and helpful journey. I say journey because I started at one place not quite sure of the destination, kept moving and then learned. It was a wonderful journey of learning more about God and His word.

Exodus 18:7                                                                                                                                   

So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down [in respect] and kissed him. They asked each other about their well-being and went into the tent.

Starting with the ancient understanding of worship I looked at the Hebrew word which is "schachah" and means to bow down, to depress yourself down or fall prostrate. It is a position that shows humility within the person bowing and a deep reverence and honour towards the person being worshipped. This word is used not just for God. It was used when Moses bowed down to his father-in-law. Ruth bowed before Boaz. David bowed before Saul. The word schachah is used in each example speaking of worship.

In the modern dictionary, worship is described as meaning to bend over or bow down and describes a gesture of respect or submission to human beings, to God or to idols. Other words used are to revere, venerate and adore. It means to honour and admire profoundly and respectfully. All speaking of deep respect shown towards a person. It does not mean to idolize which means to worship as a god or to love or admire to excess.

Exodus 34:14

For you shall not worship any other god; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His.]

Understanding this helps us with God’s command in Exodus. We are never to replace God with any other person or thing, or to elevate them in any way above God. We are called to honour and respect Him above everything. He alone is God and worthy of supreme honour and worship for there are no other gods nor are there persons that are equal in any way to Him. Sometimes, ministers can be elevated and worshippers tend to focus on them instead of God. We need to be both cautious and wise. God is a jealous God and He will not share His glory.

One of the key features of the Welsh Revival was that no man started it or led it. Evan Roberts is associated with that outpouring but in no way did he take a prominent place. Roberts went where the Spirit took him and often meetings would be held without any leader and the Holy Spirit would be poured out. The people were gathering to seek God and Him alone. Today, when someone speaks about worship it is very common to think of a large band with a worship leader singing songs. We even separate songs sometimes into praise songs and worship songs but essentially our time of singing is one of the ways in which we demonstrate our worship of God. The whole service, if centred on Jesus, is all part of our worship; our paying homage to God. We know that different congregations adopt different ways, some singing loud, boisterous songs while others prefer hymns. Each sharing of a message is different and styles go from wildly exuberance to very controlled and unemotional in delivery. No style is right or wrong, what matters is the heart posture.  Are we doing what we believe is honouring to God, pleasing to Him and all about Him.

We are called to love God and worship Him alone. I believe that as we love and serve God in our everyday lives that we demonstrate an attitude and posture of worship. We are seldom bowing down or lying prostrate but our heart posture is one of homage, submission and deep reverence toward the God we know as Father.  The fear of the Lord is a real concept and just not wanting to hurt or offend the Lord ensures our behaviour is modified accordingly. An example of this was my own temptation recently to speak badly about someone. I felt she was wrong and she was trying to influence me. I wanted to speak to someone and have them validate my feelings, I was upset. But I knew that was not what the Lord wanted and I managed to remain silent. I could not honour God and have my own way at the same time. That may sound petty but the whole thing really affected me and we need to be real with God in order for Him to change us.

Worship speaks of so much more than bowing down and I know that I could never say I worship another person no matter how much I respect and revere them. Worship is reserved for God. For me, worshipping God embraces acknowledging and celebrating His power and perfection in gratitude. Understanding how great He is, and being in awe of Him, His Majesty while understanding His Holiness.

Psalm 103:1

Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul, And all that is [deep] within me, bless His holy name.

There are no words to fully describe God, He is so big He is indescribable and it is this knowledge of Him that causes us to fall on our faces in worship. It is interesting to notice that to “bless” speaks also of bending down or kneeling and David wrote those words. A cry from King David that everything in Him might worship God, the God he loved with passion and zeal. Truly it is only when we are born again that we can even begin to understand the magnitude and wonder of God and our hearts can turn to Him in wonder and amazement. Our spirit is one with the Holy Spirit. He makes His home within us. Our bodies are the temple housing the Holy Spirit who magnifies Jesus and reveals the Father and it is here that we understand John when he wrote in John 4:24, “God is spirit [the Source of life, yet invisible to mankind], and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”  It is because the Holy Spirit ignites our spirit and reveals the truth that we know that God is our Father, Jesus our Lord, our  Saviour and they are worthy of worship and praise. We cannot work that up in ourselves, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. 

Ephesians 4:1-3

So I, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to you to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called [that is, to live a life that exhibits godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior—a life that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation],with all humility [forsaking self-righteousness], and gentleness [maintaining self-control], with patience, bearing with one another [a]in [unselfish] love. Make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful].

Our worship of God is not and cannot be without influence on our lives, our daily lives; how we live, how we behave and what we choose to prioritize. The Apostle Paul wrote this in the letter to the Ephesians. Later speaking to the believers at Colossae he writes in Colossians 1:10-11 "so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord [displaying admirable character, moral courage, and personal integrity], to [fully] please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God [with deeper faith, clearer insight and fervent love for His precepts];  [we pray that you may be] strengthened and invigorated with all power, according to His glorious might, to attain every kind of endurance and patience with joy."

Take a moment and reflect on your own life. Knowing that you are valuable to God, let Him help you recognize your strong places and your weak places. Is it worthy of your calling? Remember you are called to be a priest (serve) a King (rule and reign) and to be holy (separate.) 

Let the Holy Spirit search your heart and guide you. There is no condemnation in recognizing where we fall short. We want to grow and growth means change. Change initiated by the Spirit, not man’s opinion or thoughts of what you should be. There is also strength in knowing where we are strong, recognizing those things in ourselves that reveal something of God and are seen as good fruit.

The Psalmist understood and wrote in Psalm 139.23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Search me O God. Remember it is God Who does the searching, not me or you. God is gentle and works in us to build up and make us strong, not to break down or condemn. May He work in each of us to make us worthy of our calling! God bless you!