We need to say, "I may be sitting down (or standing) on the outside, but on the inside, I'm still kneeling down."

So what does this mean, to kneel before the Lord?

To "bow down" is to recognize God as the Sovereign, the King, and we are His subjects. Of course we don't have this system of government called "Monarchy", so for us this may sound strange. In fact, we've gone to the other extreme to say that we ourselves are kings.

The Great Reformation brought in by Martin Luther emphasized the point that we are all priests, and even royalty. This was based on two Scriptures. The first is 1 Peter 2:9 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

The second is even more explicit, Revelation 1:6 - "(He) hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

In Martin Luther's time this corrective was needed, because even as they had during Jesus' day, the common people had been left out of meaningful participation in the Kingdom of God. But now we may have taken it too far. We now have a doctrine of equality. But notice that 1 Peter 2:13 goes on to say, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme. . . ." If we are to recognize that there are differences between men, some rule while others obey, how much more should we recognize the distinction between us and God?

The problem is that if we are all kings, then we easily forget that He is King, and if we're all priests, we forget that Jesus alone is the High Priest.

To help us understand this idea of bowing down as it has to do with the king, let's take a look at the story of Joseph. And remember, Joseph in the Old Testament is seen as a wonderful type of Jesus as revealed in the New.

Genesis 41:41-43

"So Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.' Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, 'Make way [Bow Down]!' Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt." In the KJV it reads, "they cried before him, Bow the knee."

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Three Words Psalms 95:6 - "O come, let us worship (shachah) and bow down (kara`): let us kneel (barak) before the LORD our maker." ... it is interesting three different words are used....more Submitted by: Steve Location: Denver, CO
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