As we continue to look at right worship, we remember that there is nothing more fitting and right than to give God the honor He is due. That is what worship is — rendering to the holy Creator and Sustainer of all things proper, heartfelt reverence as the Sovereign Lord of all He has made.
The word “worship” in the Old Testament means to “bow down.” But true worship is a matter of the heart. Mere external worship is one of the greatest of all sins, for it is an offense against the greatest and highest Being. It is a supreme act of arrogance and ingratitude to withhold heart worship, but many people do. As Jesus said, quoting Isaiah,
This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.
Mark 7:6-7
Worshiping in vain means it is empty — not worship at all. The bowing, then, is internal. The heart bows before the Lord in true worship. It is the self, not the body, which lies prostrate before God. True worship, as one preacher said, is “the sovereignty of God recognized in reality.” He is Lord. Not us. Humbly recognizing this is worship.
The founder of the Israelite nation, Abraham, called of God, was asked by the Lord to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Isaac was the very fulfillment of the promises God made to Abraham, but he obeyed. And when Abraham came to the place where he was told to sacrifice his son, he told his men:
Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.
Genesis 22:5
This was a worship experience. Abraham was going to worship by offering his son. It is worship because Abraham recognized whole-heartedly the sovereignty of God in reality. It was God’s idea, God’s command, not his. He bowed himself to the plan, purpose, and Word of God. That is true worship. When people say, or think, they will bow before God only so far, but not what He asks, they are not true worshipers.
Notice, too, Abraham worshiped with hope and confidence. “We will worship and return to you.” The Hebrew text literally reads “We will worship and we will return to you.” We? How could he think a sacrificed Isaac would return with him? Because Isaac was the child of promise.
The Book of Hebrews tells us:
. . . he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your descendants shall be called.’ He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead . . .
Hebrews 11:17-18
Abraham held two things in his heart: an absolute submission to the word of God, and a full trust that God would keep his promise. Wow! Even when they seemed impossible to reconcile, he believed the impossible could happen. That is why the word “believe” is first used in the Bible of Abraham, and why Paul in the New Testament calls him “Abraham the believer” (Gal. 3:9). Are you a true worshiper? When you come before God at church, or at home, or walking by the way, are you recognizing God’s sovereignty in reality? Are you, in your heart, bowing before his Word in all things? If so, you are a worshiper. If not, you can begin true worship with humble repentance. That is worship, too!
Yours in Christ,
Originally printed in The AFBC Pony Express. Vol. XIII, No. 3, March 2020.