"And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground."  (Nehemiah 8:6)

Surrender . . . reverence . . . humility . . . worship!

Worship is a spontaneous response from a heart overflowing with love and emotion. The response can come in many ways, i.e., raising hands, bowing the head, lifting up the head, tears, loud praise, silent praise, and so on.

Your acts of worship will probably change each time you come into His presence depending on how your heart is touched. The Old Testament high priest, when he entered into the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement, carefully lifted the curtain, got down on his knees and crawled in backwards out of total reverence and fear of the Lord! We see evidence throughout scripture that the presence of God – encounters with the Holy One of Israel – were not to be taken lightly. God's presence was and still is an awesome experience for any child of God, whether a new convert or a seasoned saint!

There are many Hebrew words that have been translated as "worship". In today's verse, the word "worshipped" comes from the Hebrew word "shachah" which means to prostrate oneself, to bow down, to fall down flat, to humbly beseech, to make obeisance, do reverence, to worship. You can get a clear picture of the honor the children of Israel were paying to the Lord through their acts of worship.

Search the scriptures today to find the references for worship . . . search out the postures, the responses, the actions, and even silence and see how they all play an important role in the believer's response in worship. Become familiar with them and as you do, your responses to Him in worship will move to another level!

Love Him the way He deserves to be loved and don't be afraid to express your love according to the pattern found in the Word! He's worthy of our praise and worship! He's worthy of our deepest and most sincere worship!

Father, Your love for me is more than I can comprehend, many times I'm overwhelmed by the awesomeness of Your presence! Help me to learn to express my love to you through surrender, reverence, and humility. Lord, You are so worthy of all my praise and worship . . . help me express my love and adoration in ways that bring honor and glory to You and You alone! Amen and Amen!

"And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped." (2 Chronicles 29:28-29)

© 2008 Jan Ross
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