Worship Articles by John A. White Contributing Writer January 07, 2008

In the previous article, we examined how David brought the Ark to Zion. We concluded with four attitudes of worship:
· Our worship must be informed by the Bible.
· We should be desiring a fresh experience with God. His mercies are new every morning; our worship should also be new every morning.
· We need to be living a life worthy of God’s presence. Worship doesn’t just happen on Sunday morning and Wednesday nights. Worship is a lifestyle of radiating the glory of God - constantly bearing the presence of God. As Paul says, “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor 3:3)
· We need to cast aside the things that keep us from worshipping. Anything that steps in the way of our worship is not worthy of our confession of Christ; it needs to be ruthlessly and conscientiously removed from our lives.

This week, let’s look at God’s presence in Solomon’s worship.

Solomon’s Temple

2CH 5:7 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 2CH 5:8 The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles. 2CH 5:9 These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. 2CH 5:10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. 2CH 5:11 The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. 2CH 5:12 All the Levites who were musicians--Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives--stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. 2CH 5:13 The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: "He is good; his love endures forever." Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, 2CH 5:14 and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.

We can draw many insights from this passage regarding worship, but I would like to focus on three:

1. Notice verse 11, all the priests who were there had previously consecrated themselves for this event. Today we have the spirit of God indwelling us. There relationship of proportions here; the extent to which we consecrate ourselves to God is proportional to the extent which we experience God’s presence working through us. This is what Paul is getting at when he says that we should live a life worthy of our calling.

2. When Israel structured their worship on what was revealed in the Books of the Law, the result of their obedience was the visible presence of God’s presence.

3. As a result of God’s visible presence, the priests could no longer minister. God calls us to be a royal priesthood that carries His presence everywhere we go. Although we are responsible for being vessels of God’s glory, our effectiveness in expanding God’s kingdom and ministering to His saints is not derived from our abilities to do the great things that Jesus did. Rather, God’s work is administered as He uses our ability to not impede the work of God as He uses us. In other words, the priests were not responsible for the presence of God in the temple; it was God’s prerogative to dwell there. We, as worshippers, cannot force the hand of God a certain way. At best, we need to be conscious of what God is doing in the congregation and make sure we minister likewise or step out of God’s way. Jesus said it this way, “Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son does in like manner” (NKJ, John 5:19). If this is true of Jesus, that He only did what He saw the Father doing, shouldn’t we do the same?

Continue >>>

Page  1  |  2  |  Next

Printable Version
Email this Page to a Friend	Add Your Opinion

Everyday with the presence Worshiping God is the sweetest thing in life. There is nothing as sweet as TRUE WORSHIP. As Christians and Worshipers of the Most High God, we should always reflect God’s Glory throughout our entire lives. This should be our greatest priority in life...more Submitted by: Jacob Nsaali Location: Kampala, Uganda
Add Your Opinion	See All 1 Opinions >>