We will continue this evening
the study which we began this morning, a study basically oriented
to two passages of scripture, to which we have brought the
light of many other passages of scripture. The first of those
passages is in the fourth chapter of the Gospel according to St.
John, John chapter 4, verses 21 through 24. Our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking
with this Samaritan woman, this immoral woman, who had had four
husbands, is now living in a common-law relationship with the fifth.
And yet our Lord, who came to seek and to save sinners, is
conversing with such a woman. And she seeks to divert him from
the issue at hand, namely her sin, for our Lord has been talking
with her about her murky past, and she changes the subject and
says, well, what's the right place to worship? So the Lord
takes her objection and uses it as a springboard to give her
a true lesson of worship. And he says in verse 21, Woman,
believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain
nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know
not what. We know what we worship for salvation
is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshipers—that's the key phrase—when the true
worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth,
for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit,
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. There are true worshipers, and
they are marked in terms of this kind of worship. They bring worship
that is in spirit and that is in truth. And then the other
text, Philippians chapter 3 and verse 3, For we are the circumcision,
that is, the true people of God, who worship God in the Spirit,
or better translated, who worship in the Spirit of God and rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. But I would remind you that the
Scripture speaks of vain worship in Mark chapter 7. God says,
in vain does this people worship me. The Scripture speaks of worship
that is an abomination unto God in Isaiah chapter 1. And the
text that we looked at in John 4 speaks of true worshipers indicating
that there are such creatures as false worshipers. And it should
be the concern of every one of us who at any time, under any
circumstances, professes to be a worshipper of God to know whether
or not that which we bring to Him in the name of worship is
true worship, whether God really accepts it. And so we have been
seeking to cull from Holy Scripture those factors which make up true
worship, those ingredients which make up a true worshipper. This morning we defined worship,
in terms of the scriptural picture of worship, as a conscious, wholehearted
activity directed to God in which we ascribe honor and praise unto
this great and majestic God. Then we began to consider what
are the prerequisites for true worship, and we only covered
one this morning—namely, there had to be Two, a true knowledge
of God. You cannot worship an unknown
God, and if it's to be true worship, it must be worship in truth,
Christ said. That is, the worship we bring
to God must be brought to the God who really is. Not some God
we have made, but the God who is, and the God who is revealed
in Holy Scripture. That's why Christ said the Father
seeks people to worship Him in spirit and in truth. But there
must not only be right knowledge of God, there must be a spiritual
sight of God. There must be inner heart perception
of God. Otherwise, our worship will not
be in spirit. It will not be from the heart.
It will be a mere cold intellectual exercise. Now, tonight, we come
to consider the third prerequisite of true worship, without which
there can be no worship. Factor number one, a true knowledge
of God. Factor number two, a spiritual
sight of God. Factor number three, or ingredient
number three, prerequisite number three, a right posture before
God. I remember one time an old saint
of God coming to me, rather upset because she noticed that in our
prayer meeting we did not kneel. And she came to me trying to
be very, keep her place. It was a woman and she was trying
not to lose her place as a woman. And yet at the same time, she
was quite agitated and her whole agitation was this. She said,
don't you think the only proper posture when we pray is on our
knees? I said, well, if I could show
you that God obviously put his seal of approval on people praying
in another posture, would you accept that? Well, she looked
at me with a little bit of a jaundiced eye. She wasn't going to be,
as it were, backed against the wall and be pinned to where she
couldn't get out. But she was willing to hear me
out. I said, well, what greater manifestation of the approval
of God upon a group of people praying do you find in scripture
than when that group was praying in the upper room prior to Pentecost?
It says they continued steadfastly in prayer. Now, I said, when
the Holy Spirit came in power on the day of Pentecost, what
posture were the people in? I don't remember if she answered,
well, they were probably kneeling. I said, no, the Holy Spirit explicitly
says in Acts chapter 2 that he came and filled the room where
they were sitting. Now I said if God sent his spirit
down in power on the day of Pentecost when some people were praying
in a sitting position, I think that's pretty good indication
that God's pleased with that posture as well as with kneeling.
Now when I speak of the posture of true worship, and I've used
this little anecdote to illustrate this, I am not speaking of a
physical posture. There is no physical posture,
be it a bowed head, a closed eye, a bent knee, a prostrated
body, whatever it be. that can assure us that we are
bringing to God true worship. But I submit to you that there
is a spiritual posture without which we cannot bring worship
to God, no matter what physical posture we may assume and no
matter what words we may articulate with the lips. There is a posture
of the soul that is an absolute essential to true worship. Now,
the physical posture is important only so far as it is an honest
reflection of the posture of the soul. And it's for this reason
that the Holy Spirit has recorded in Holy Scripture Literally dozens,
several dozen instances, we can only look at a few of them tonight,
but several dozen instances where it is recorded of a certain group
of people or a certain individual that he or they worshipped. And included in that account
of their worship is a description of their physical posture. Now
why has the Holy Spirit done this? Why should the Holy Spirit
say in Scripture, as we're going to see tonight, that so-and-so
bowed his head and worshipped, that so-and-so fell upon his
face and worshipped, that this individual fell before the throne
of God and worshipped, this group fell upon the ground and worshipped?
Of what significance is this description of the physical act? The significance is this. God
is showing us that when the posture of the soul is reflected by the
physical posture of the body, you have a picture of one of
the ingredients of true worship. So our purpose then, first of
all, in looking at some of the biblical data, is not that we
might find five or six different physical postures which are befitting
to worship and then begin to imitate those physical postures.
No. We want to look at those physical postures and then look
behind them at the one common denominator they have of the
posture of the soul and emulate the posture of the soul that
these people had when they worshipped. So much for the principle. Now
let's look at some of the biblical data, shall we? Turn to one of
the first instances in which it is recorded of anyone in Holy
Scripture that he or she worshipped. The book of Genesis. Chapter
24, Genesis 24. Here we have the account of the
servant of Abraham who has gone to obtain a wife for his son
Isaac. And when God has been pleased
to prosper him in his journey, we read in verse 26, Genesis
24, 26, And the man bowed down his head
and worshipped the Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord
God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master
of his mercy and his truth. I being in the way, the Lord
led me to the house of my master's brethren. God has answered his
prayer. God has allowed him to see the
desire of his master Abraham, and out of a sense of gratitude
to God, he wants to worship. He wants to be engaged in this
conscious, wholehearted, God-directed activity of ascribing praise
and honor to God. But before he does, it says that
he bows his head and then he worships. Notice precisely the
same thing in verse 52. A little bit later on, when his
mission is obviously more successful, in the same chapter, verse 51
and 52, it came to pass that when Abraham's servant heard
their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. to the earth. Now turn to the
book of Exodus chapter four. We're just going to look at a
number of references until you begin to see a common denominator
of mood or climate of worship indicated by this physical posture. Exodus chapter four and verse
31. And the people believe, that
is, they believe the words that were spoken by Moses and Aaron. And when they had heard that
the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had looked
upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped. Same thought again. In the light
of what God had done, they want to consciously, wholeheartedly
ascribe praise and honor to God. But before they do, they bow
the head, and then they are engaged in worship. Turn to the book
of Joshua, please, chapter 5. Joshua is commissioned of God
to lead the children of Israel into the promised land as a warrior
leading the armies of God. And God reveals himself in this
strange way. He sees a man standing with a
drawn sword. And when he sees him, he asks
him a question, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? In
Joshua 5, verse 14, we have the answer of this strange personage. And he said, Nay, that is needn't. I'm not for your adversaries
or for you, but I come as captain over you and over your armies. But as captain of the host of
the Lord am I now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the
earth and did worship. He fell upon his face and did
worship. Once he knew who this person
was, none other than our Lord Jesus Christ himself. He wanted
to ascribe to him honor and praise, but before he did, he prostrated
himself upon the earth. The posture of worship, the bowed
head, the prostrate body as we saw with the servant of Abraham
and now with Joshua. Then we find essentially the
same in Nehemiah 8 and verse 6, where we have the record of
the people of God as a group. These first few instances have
been individuals. Now when we turn to Nehemiah
chapter 8, we find a body of people. Nehemiah chapter 8. And
verse six, and Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all
the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up of their hands.
And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their
faces to the ground. Now you say, how can you have
lifted hands and face to the ground? Well, most of you have
seen pictures of how the Muslims turned to Mecca five times a
day. And they raised their hands on
their knees, and then they bowed to the ground. See, you can have
both, so there's no contradiction here. There was the lifting up
of the hands in praise, and then the bowing to the earth with
their faces to the ground. It's said essentially the same
of Job, in Job chapter 1, it's said again in Psalm 95, 6 and
7, O come let us kneel down, let us bow before the Lord our
maker, let us worship him. The concept of bowing, the concept
of kneeling before the Lord our maker. You find the same thing
in the New Testament, and in the interest of time, let me
just give you the references. In Matthew 2, in verse 11, it
is said that when the three magi came, that they bowed down before
the infant Christ, and they opened unto him their presence, and
they did worship him. In the Temptation, in Matthew
4, Satan says to our Lord in verse 9, I'll give thee all the
kingdoms of the earth if thou wilt what? Bow down and worship
me. The posture that precedes and
attends the worship. It is said in Mark 15 in verse
19 that they bowed down and they worshiped our Lord. A very significant
verse in 1 Corinthians 14. Let's look at this. The Apostle
Paul is dealing with the abuse of certain spiritual gifts, and
he says if the whole Church would speak the words of God, then
unbelievers coming in would be struck with something, namely,
the reality of the omniscience of God. The secrets of his heart
would be made manifest, 1 Corinthians 14.25. And the secrets of his
heart are made manifest, and so falling down on his face He
will worship God. Now, isn't this significant?
He mentions the posture falling upon his face. He will worship
God. And then we have those references
in Revelation that we read this morning of the elders who fall
down before the throne and they worship Satan. Now, when you
put all those things together, Abraham's servant bowing his
head, prostrating himself upon the ground. Joshua prostrating
himself and worshiping the people of Israel with their hands raised
with their faces to the earth Worshipping if we take the Magi
bowing before the infant Christ Worshipping if we see the picture
of the unbeliever coming into the assembly falling upon his
face and worshiping What are the common denominators of all
of these things? indicated by the description
of the posture of worship. Whatever it is, I would submit
to you that if you and I do not have that quality indicated by
the posture described, we can no more truly worship than a
man can swim with his hands and feet tied, than a man can sing
with his mouth closed or with his tongue ripped out. If you
and I would worship, there must be this posture of true worship. Now, what is the meaning of this
external posture? May I suggest that two things
as a bare essential, there may be more, but I'm convinced these
two things are taught in these portions of scripture. Number
one, the matter of true humility. When we want to tell someone
he ought to be proud, what do we say? We say, lift your head
high and be proud that you're an American. You see, the whole
concept of the lifted head, and it's hard for me to do it tonight
because I popped the vertebrae out of place while I was combing
my hair yesterday morning. So if I look like I'm a little
stiff-necked, it's because I am. But when you want to tell someone
to be proud, you say, Lift up your head, carry your head high.
Isn't that the phrase that you carry your head high and be proud
that you're this or that? You see, the contrast between
the bowed head is the lifted head. The lifted head speaks
of pride. In Proverbs six, God says these
six things that the Lord hates seven are an abomination unto
him, a high look and a proud heart. You have the example in
the Gospels of that Pharisee who lifted up his eyes to heaven,
proud of what he was, whereas the publican would what? Would
not so much as even look up, but he cast his eyes downward. So that that which is spoken
of in this posture of the bowed head, that which is spoken of
in this posture of prostration before God, Bent before him is
that inner posture of humility. Now the question then comes to
us, what is humility? Some people have the idea that
humility is sort of trying to convince yourself that you're
really nothing and kicking yourself down until you feel like a little
piece of off scouring and that's humility. No, no. You know what
humility is? Humility is simply the creature
consciously taking his place before the Creator. That's all humility is. Humility
is moral sanity. Humility is looking yourself
in the mirror and really seeing what's there. And only the man who's been humbled
by God really sees what he ought to see when he looks in the mirror.
Sin has so deceived us that when we look at the mirror, we don't
see a little creature of the dust, who's dependent upon God
for the very breath he breathes. What do we see? We see a man,
big man, smart man, controlling his own destiny, determining
his own fate, governing his own affairs. getting on quite well
without his God. You see, sin has so perverted
our senses, we don't see what's really there. And what is humility?
It's just restored moral sanity. I begin to see myself for what
I really am. And what am I? I am a creature
who exists by the sheer good pleasure of God. Isn't this what
those heavenly creatures acknowledge there in Revelation, when they
prostrate themselves before the throne and worship? Listen to
what is the theme of their worship. Revelation 4, verses 10 and 11,
the four and 20 elders fall down before him that sat on the throne
and worship him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns
before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things. And remember, these elders are
things. Anything other than God is a
thing. You're a thing. I'm a thing. We're the most important thing
God has made, but we're things. There's only one thing that's
not a thing, and that's God. And so these elders are prostrate
before the throne of God, acknowledging that everything that is created
has come by the good pleasure of God, for by thy pleasure they
are and were created. So when I look in the mirror,
what should I see? I should see a creature that is dependent
for its very existence upon the sheer good pleasure of God. I
could have been forever locked up in nothingness. But here I
am, a creature, standing upon God's earth, breathing God's
air, with the tremendous potential of knowing and fellowshipping
with my Creator. Why? Why was not I made a despicable
little cockroach? The God who made Adam is the
God who made cockroaches. Why aren't you a cockroach, a
little mouse whose neck someone's trying to get in a mousetrap?" He said, I never thought of that.
Well, we ought to. For by thy pleasure all things are and were
created, from the meanest little worm to the mightiest king. Everything
that is created is created by the sheer good pleasure of God.
What is humility? Simply looking in the mirror
and seeing that's exactly what I am. A preacher dependent upon
God for the very existence of my being, for the nature of that
being, what I am. Acknowledging that all that I
have in the way of sanity, soundness of mind and body, This is why you see that even
creatures who've never known sin are worship, worshiping creatures,
the seraphim, the cherubim, the angels. They worship. Why? Because
they are created things who owe their very existence to God.
So when they worship, they don't stand equal to God and say, thank
you. They fall down and prostrate
themselves, acknowledging they are creatures. He is the creator.
But now when it comes to you and me, there's an added ingredient
that ought to lead to true humility. We are not only created beings,
we are sinful creatures. And when the sinful creature
stands in the presence of the holy creator, what other posture
is fitting but the posture of being in the dust? the Creator
who holds our eternal destiny in our hands, and who could,
to the magnifying of his justice, cut us off in our sins and make
us an eternal monument to his righteous wrath. And yet he's
borne with some of us for months and years in our state of sin
and rebellion, and he bears with us to this day. Some of us he
has savingly turned to himself, and yet wonder of wonders. We have done enough since he
has showered grace upon us, saving grace, to have forever forfeited
any further grace. And yet his faithfulness fails
not, his mercy and his grace forbear and care week in and
week out, month in and month out. Well, you see, humility
is simply the recognition that as a creature I owe all that
I am to Him, as a sinful creature I am a thousandfold indebted
to this God for His grace and His patience. And so I acknowledge
this by that posture of the soul that is best expressed at times
by a physical posture. So that when these people thought
of who God was and what they were, they instinctively bowed
the head. The outward act, a reflection
of the inward disposition of the soul. And I wondered as I
was meditating upon this, if at least there isn't some analogy
here. When it speaks so many times of people worshiping prostrate
upon the ground, with their bodies close to the dust, if this isn't
the most fitting way for a man to acknowledge, that's all I
am. He took dust. Well, pride and worship are just
that incompatible. You see, you can't strut around
nursing A spirit of pride, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, and suddenly comes Sunday morning in worship.
Oh, you may bow your head, but though you boweth on the outside,
you standeth on the inside. Pride and worship are incompatible. This may be explained why there
are times you can't worship, because there's a spirit of pride
that is unmortified and uncrucified. If we would worship in spirit
and in truth, we must, by God's grace, assume the posture of
humility. But you say, Pastor, how do you
bring yourself to that place? Well, only the Lord can bring
us, but he uses certain means. May I suggest a way that will
help you to assume this posture? If you're not conscious of your
earthiness, just sit before a church service sometime. If someone
wants to strike up conversation, say, excuse me, I've got business
to do to prepare myself to worship, and just start thinking. Who
am I? Start looking in the mirror and ask God to help you to put
on the right glasses to see yourself as you really are. What am I?
A little helpless, frail, conglomeration of a little bit of dust. How
long am I going to be here? Oh, just a few brief, shadowy
years. Scripture says our days pass
swifter than a weaver's shot. They're like a puff of smoke
that appears for a little time and vanishes away. I'm a little helpless creature of
the dust, dependent for my very breath upon the God who gave
it to me and continues to give it to me. If I'm a Christian,
I know of nothing that brings humility quicker than this, than
to ask myself, where should I be right now? I ought to be a faggot
in the flames of hell. And yet here I am, sitting with
God's people, preparing myself to lift up my voice in praise. I tell you, sometimes it'll make
you want to just push the chair back and get on your face right
in the aisle. That's how you do prepare yourself
to worship. I shall never forget the time
when, in my early twenties, I was privileged to speak at a conference
up in Canada, and before me were seated some fifteen hundred two
thousand people. And that wicked false spirit
of hell began to try to inject, or if not inject, fan the flames
of the residue of pride within my breast. That would be a more
accurate analogy. Well, here you are, early twenties. You hear men who preach for 30,
40 years before they get asked to a conference, and here you
are preaching to all these people, and I just felt them like the
billows, you know, just blowing on those sparks and embers of
pride. And I shall never forget as God,
I think for the first time, consciously taught me the lesson I'm trying
to share with you. As I sat there on the platform,
I looked down at my hands. I opened them up and I looked
at them. And I began to think of those verses, weeping and
wailing and gnashing of teeth in the smoke of their torment
ascendeth up forever, having two hands to be cast into hell.
And as I began to think of where I'd be that very moment had God
cut me off in my sins just seven, six, seven short years prior
to the moment I sat on that conference platform, and that I'd be an
eternal monument to his righteous wrath. As my cries ascended from
the pit forever and ever, I tell you it didn't take long for every
last conscious vestige of pride to shrivel, and to acknowledge
that I was what I was by the grace of God. You get the idea? I hope you
do. Second element that's involved
in this posture of true worship. I said I was convinced at least
two things were indicated by the bowed head, the prostrated
body, the bent knee. Humility, and then in the second
place, utter submission. Utter submission. This picture is most clearly
brought forth, of course, in those passages in the book of
the Revelation where we have the account of these creatures,
these four and twenty elders who prostrate themselves before
the throne of God. Notice in Revelation 4.10, it
says very explicitly, the four and twenty elders fall down before
him that sat on the throne and they worship him. Revelation
chapter 7 and verse 11, and the angel stood round about the throne
and about the elders and the four beasts and fell before the
throne on their faces and worshipped God. Now, those of us who live
in a democracy, the concept of a throne is foreign to us. With
all the abuses of big government, we still don't have political
dictatorship. So for us to think in terms of
a throne, it's very difficult. But if you lived in an Oriental
society and lived in a society where there was a monarchy, the
whole concept of the throne would have tremendous meaning to you.
The throne is the seat of absolute power and unquestioned authority. There's no higher court of appeal.
It's not government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
It's government of the throne, by the throne, and for the throne.
And anyone who comes under the circle of the rights of that
throne realizes it. Now, if a good king reigned upon
that throne, then he reigned and exercised his authority for
the good of his people. If an evil king reigned upon
the throne, he exercises his throne rights for his own ends.
But whether for good or evil, a throne was a place of absolute
authority. And whenever a subject came into
the presence of his sovereign, he never came standing up. He
always came in a posture of a bowed head or a bent knee or a prostrate
form. Why? Because the outward form
of his physical frame was to be a reflection of his inward
disposition to the authority symbolized by that throne. So
when we read in Revelation 7 and Revelation 4, and we have it
again later on in the book of the Revelation, that these elders
prostrate themselves before the throne and they worship, this
is a beautiful picture of utter, abject submission on the part
of the creature in relationship to the authority of God the Creator. So I submit to you that one of
the essential ingredients of worship in spirit and in truth
is not only this proper posture which denotes humility, but a
proper posture of the soul that is characterized by utter submission
to God, submission to his person. He is God with absolute right
to rule me, to govern me, to tell me anything about myself.
He made me. Therefore, he has the right to
direct me. But in a very special way, absolute
submission to his revealed will. And when you are taking that
position before God consciously, of submission before him, that
posture of utter resignation to his revealed will, you are
worshipping. Now, this answers a very essential
question, and it used to bother me, and I don't believe I've
just run to scripture to find an answer to justify it. You
can do that with almost anything. Why is it that the preaching
of the word is central in our Protestant worship? That used to bother me. We call
it a worship service, and more than half the time is given over
to preaching and to listening to sermons. Now, is this consistent
with true worship? Well, I want you to turn back
to that worship setting in Joshua. I only read one of the verses,
and I did this on purpose because I didn't want to steal my thunder. Bad enough when someone else
does it on you, but if you do it on yourself, you have no one
to blame but yourself. Turn to the book of Joshua, please.
Joshua chapter 5. Now what we're trying to see
is that this matter of a true posture of worship indicates
humility on the one hand, and the second aspect of it is submission. And that submission involves
a disposition of openness to hear and do the revealed will
of God. Joshua 5, verses 14 and 15. Art thou for us, or for the adversaries? And the answer, And he said,
Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord I am come. And Joshua
fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto
him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain
of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off
thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua
did so." Now will you notice the connection? Joshua fell on
his face to the earth and did worship and said, What do you
want me to know in order that I might do it? You see, an integral
part of his worship was this posture of prostration before
God, which was an outward symbol of inward submission. Now, when
there's inward submission, what does submission need? The disposition
of submission needs a directive for the submitted heart. It's
one thing to say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? It's
another thing to know what he'd have us to do. And in a very
real sense, worship rises to one of its highest pinnacles
of purity. When the creature who's been
brought to brokenness before the throne of God sits in a worship
service, not just hearing the preacher's words to analyze them,
not just listening to the preacher's sermon in order to evaluate it,
no, but when a person sits in that posture that you now sit,
with a heart that is in the posture of Joshua, prostrate before God
with this attitude, What saith my Lord from his throne unto
his servant on his face? so that as the Word is preached,
the person truly hearing in a context of worship is receiving direction
not from the preacher, not information from the preacher, but he is
hearing the Word of God. Do you get this register? That's
worship. That's worship! Because you've
taken the place of prostration before God. waiting for that
word to come. This is why the Reformation brought
preaching back to the centrality in worship. For what's more important,
the inscriptions of praise which I bring to God or the infallible
direction for life which God brings to me? I think the answer
is obvious. For at best my sight of God is
dim, therefore my praise of him is limited. But his word to me
is a perfect word, for he is God, and he knows me altogether,
and he knows what his design and plan for my life is. So one of the essential elements
of true worship is a right posture, a posture of the bent head, the
prostrate body, The bowed knee, which denotes humility on the
one hand, submission on the other, submission to his person, submission
to his revealed will. May I touch on one other area
in which this is very practical? Submission to his chastenings.
Two examples in Holy Scripture. First of all, 2 Samuel chapter
12. You'll remember the setting.
David has grievously sinned in this illicit relationship with
Bathsheba. Almost a year has passed. Nathan, the prophet, has come
and David has been smitten with conviction, has confessed his
sin to God. But this child, born of this
illicit union, the judgment of God has been pronounced upon
it. And he says, Nathan does to David, the child shall die. God will forgive you, but he's
going to chastise you in taking the life of this child." Now,
that brings us to 2 Samuel 12, verse 15. And Nathan departed
unto his house, and the Lord struck the child that Uriah's
wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. David therefore
besought God for the child, and David fasted and went in and
lay all night upon the earth. The elders of his house arose
and went to him, to raise him up from the earth, but he would
not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass
in the seventh day that the child died. And the servants of David
feared to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, Behold,
while the child was yet alive, we spoke unto him, and he would
not hearken to our voice. How will he then vex himself
if we tell him that the child is dead? If we simply tell him
the child is sick and no better and he won't hear us for his
grief, how can we break the news to him that the child is dead?
He'll be deranged. He'll go out of his mind. But
when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that
the child was dead. Therefore, David said to his
servants, is the child dead? And they said, he is dead. Then David arose from the earth,
and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and
came into the house of the Lord, and what? Worshipped. He came into the house of the
Lord and worshipped. What did he do? He bowed before
the throne, and he said, O God, all that thou doest is God. You see, it isn't as though he
just won a wonderful victory and came into the house of the
Lord in worship. That's easy. To acknowledge that God in his
sovereign power gave the victory, but the same God has touched
the darling bosom child, and the news comes it's dead. Child
is dead, but he worships. Oh beloved, God is not going
to teach us to worship. simply by showering blessing
upon us and then giving us the grace to acknowledge the hand
from which the blessing comes. God teaches most of his children
to worship by touching something very dear in the way of personal
possession, loved ones, property, ambition, something that's very
dear. And when we can look up through
bitter tears and say from the depths of the heart, Take that posture of being prostrate
before the throne, never standing up and bringing God to account
to us as to why he's done what he's done, bowing down and saying,
you're God, free to do as you will. Then we're learning to worship.
One other example in Holy Scripture. Turn up to the book of Job, if
you will. Almost an exact parallel of this, Job chapter 1. Again, you remember the tremendous
testimony about Job, that he lived a blameless life. God had
wonderfully blessed him with children and material possessions,
a very wealthy, very rich man. And yet in one day the news comes
that his wealth is gone, his children are dead, and all his
possessions taken from him. Job 1, verses 20 and 21. Then Job arose and rent his mantle
and shaved his head. and fell down upon the ground
and began to beat the ground, saying, Oh God, why, why, why? Isn't it a shame? God touches
some one thing of ours, and we're tempted to throw a tantrum. You
know, a little child throws a tantrum. It's down on the ground, but
that's not a posture of submission. That's a posture of rebellion,
and the ground seems to be the thing you can beat the most without
having it beat back, so a child throws itself on the ground.
Now Job didn't throw himself on the ground and have a tantrum.
Lord, why, why, why? Notice what it says. He shaved
his head, fell upon the ground and worshipped and said, Naked
came I out of my mother's womb. See, he looked in the mirror
and saw himself rightly. Naked came I out of my mother's
womb. Naked shall I return thither.
The Lord gave. The Lord has taken away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. You see this essential ingredient
of true worship? Utter submission to the person
of God, to the revealed will of God, to the chastening of
God. Let me say in closing application
tonight, it's obvious if you sit here tonight as a child of
Adam, A man or woman who's never been brought to bow in brokenness
before the throne of God and confess Jesus Christ as your
Lord and Savior, acknowledging that by nature you're a rebel
and a proud, self-sufficient, independent creature who thinks
you can make it on your own, you can never truly worship.
What does God say of all this so-called worship that ascends
from many a so-called house of worship all across our country
Sunday after Sunday from men and women who've never been bent
and broken in humility like that publican who would not so much
as even lift up his eyes to heaven but casting his eyes to the earth
said God be merciful to me. All of that so-called worship
is an abomination in the sight of God. You see a little sign
on the billboard, Worship in your church this week. Yeah,
it's easy to say, but you'll never worship till the posture
of brokenness and humility is grafted into your spirit by the
Holy Spirit. And so I say to any of you who
may be strangers to God's grace, you have never worshiped one
moment of your life until you fall in brokenness before Jesus
Christ. But I also say, To you who by
God's grace have been brought into a saving relationship to
Jesus Christ, you can't worship if you've got any conscious controversy
with God. If you're throwing a little temper
tantrum saying, Lord, why, why, instead of blessed be the name
of the Lord, you can't worship. And if there are those embers
of pride being blown by the billows, of the enemy of our souls, and
you're welcoming those bellows—I meant bellows, not billows—then
you can't worship. Can't. If you've got any conscious
controversy with the throne, you can't fall before that throne
and worship. Beloved, if we believed this,
we wouldn't dare appear here on a Sunday morning with any
conscious controversy with us or with the Lord. Let me share
a little testimony in closing and show how real this is. A
couple of weeks ago, my wife and I had some words. It was
rare. We don't often have them, but
we have them. And we had some words Sunday morning before coming
to church. And on the way in the car, I
tried to see where I may have been wrong
in my evaluation of the situation. And before God, I felt I had
dealt with it right. And I tried to get her to see
my point of view. And we still hadn't resolved the thing. I
say it's a rare time when that happens, but it happened. And
I just said to her, I said, dear, I can't go and stand up and lead
the people in worship. If this thing is not resolved
between us, I can't do it. And I will not do it. Be mockery
to God. Seek to lead you people to worship
before the throne of God when I have a controversy with that
throne? I fear God would strike my tongue and make it a stammering,
blubbering instrument. I came out between Sunday school
and church. sidled over to my wife and said, honey, is everything
all right now? And I knew the way she looked at me that the
issue had been settled, and I felt I could go and worship. These
are very real people. I don't set myself up as a model,
but I want you to know as your pastor, I'm trying to walk down
the path that I'm trying to lead you. How can we worship when
some of us have had words with our wives or husbands, and we
come with a heart stewing full of bitterness? Some of you kids.
Some of you young people, you come, just haven't had a good
gripe with your brother or sister. Not broken before God. How can we worship? God's dealing
with us about something, and we're fighting God. How can we
worship? Oh, may God teach us the holy art of prostrating ourselves
before the throne, inwardly, before we ever come through the
doors to worship in community. I believe that if we are found
worshiping from that posture of brokenness, God the Holy Ghost
will make so real to us the presence of Christ in the midst of our
gathering that there will be times when we will have to say,
like some of the saints of old have said, Lord, stay thy hand,
I can take no more. The Father seeketh such to worship
him in spirit and in truth. The prerequisites of true worship,
a true knowledge of God, a saving sight of God, a right posture
before God, the bowed head, the bent knee, the prostrate form,
outward indications of this inward disposition of humility and of
utter submission. If you want an interesting study,
you see how those two characteristics were beautifully illustrated
even in our Lord Jesus Christ, who had no sin over which to
be humbled. And yet he walked in humility
and in utter submission. No wonder he could worship and
say, Holy Father. For he said, I do always the
things that please my father. He is our great example. But
we don't have time to enlarge that tonight. I hope that you'll
search it out on your own and God will bless you as you do. Let us unite in prayer. O God, as we have moved forward
in our seats to bend our heads and bow our necks, O God, send
forth Thy Spirit to prostrate our hearts before Thee. We confess
to Thee the moral insanity of our pride. Looking in the mirror
and seeing a self-sufficient creature when all the while we
are as helpless. As we could possibly be dependent
upon thee for the very breath we breathe. Oh, Lord, forgive
us for our pride, for our rebellion, for our stubbornness, for throwing
little temper tantrums when you've dealt with us in strange ways.
Oh, God, teach us to be like Job, to be like David. And for
those who sit among us like that proud Pharisee, who've never
seen themselves lost in undone, needing the mercy of God in Christ,
who've never fled with a holy desperation to the cross, Lord,
may this word that they have heard tonight fix itself in their
hearts like an arrow whose barbs Cause the point of that arrow
to be embedded in the flesh. Oh, may thy word be thus embedded
in the heart and there do its work until they cry with that
publican, God be merciful to me, a sinner. We thank thee for
thy presence with us. Send us to our homes, rejoicing
in thee, our great and God worthy of praise, worthy of our worship. And for all that you will do
in answer to our prayer, we thank thee through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.