A Bowed Body
O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
For he is our God;. . . (Psalm 95:6, 7(a)) (KJ)
And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God. (Rev. 7:11( KJ)
This is the seventh in a seven-part series entitled The Worshiper's Position. One of the most challenging, yet rewarding postures of worship I have experienced is bowing low before God's presence. We serve a God who is more worthy than our human imaginations could ever fathom. Yes, He is worthy of our standing in His presence. However, He is also pleased when we choose to bow low, kneel, or literally lay flat on our faces before His presence. Lying prostrate before God is probably one of the most humble bodily positions we can take. But please remember that it matters not how low we bow if our hearts are not involved. Our worship to almighty God will always be a matter of the heart, regardless of what forms we may take.
In today's text we see the inhabitants of Heaven bowing low to worship the One who sits on the throne. If we say we love the Lord, and we plan to spend eternity in Heaven with Him, only to join with those who are already in constant praise and worship of Him, then shouldn't we now, while yet on earth bow low in worship? We have plenty of human examples: King Jehoshaphat bowed low when he heard from God; as Ezra blessed the Lord the people lifted up their hands and then bowed low in worship; Solomon was kneeling when he prayed in dedication of the newly-finished house of the Lord.
Perhaps it's going to take a level of desperation for some of us to bow low in worship to God. My pastor, Dr. Jerome E. McNeil, Jr. often suggests to us that it takes desperate prayer to move to the next dimension in God. I want to piggyback on that admonition and suggest it's going to take some desperate worship to get us to the next level as well.
As we prepare for Christ's return, why not incorporate into your private worship, as well as the corporate worship experience times of bowing, kneeling, or going prostrate? In doing so we are positioning ourselves to hear from Him. Someone reading this devotional has been seeking God in prayer for a long time about something that only you and He know about. If you've never bowed low as you worship Him in prayer, I encourage you to bow your heart AND your body before Him and listen as He speaks.
Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
Your team will learn why we worship and gain a better understanding of how to worship.
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This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.