Worship: Worship Through Adoration
Worship reminds us who God is and who we are in relation to Him. I need this reorientation often.
Worship is our response to the holiness, goodness, and grandeur of God. Worship takes on many forms. Today we’ll study one that affects our physical posture. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word used to describe this form of worship is shāchāh. It means to bow (self) down, to prostrate oneself, to crouch, to fall down, to humbly beseech, to do reverence, to worship.1 This type of worship could be described as a physical expression of what our heart is feeling and mind is thinking toward God.
Let’s look at a passage out of 2 Chronicles. Much of 1 and 2 Chronicles is dedicated to the building and description of Solomon’s temple and how the people of God worshiped in those days. While 1 and 2 Chronicles include much of the same material that’s in 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings, the author’s emphasis is on worship. This is a helpful fact when reading through these two historical books.
Read 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.
Personal Reflection: Have you ever been so overwhelmed by the presence of God that you fell or knelt down before Him? That would be to shāchāh the Lord (the Hebrew word used in the passage you just read).2 Describe the situation, what you felt, and why you responded the way you did.
I haven’t personally experienced quite what was described in 2 Chronicles 7, but I can remember a few precious times when I was so aware of the presence of the Lord I went straight to my knees or even facedown.
One that comes to mind happened in the Amazon during JMI’s Jungle Pastors’ Conference. I had just finished teaching out of John 15 about abiding in Christ. As I closed my Bible, one of the women started singing in response. A trickle of voices joined her. By the chorus, everyone was
singing. Louder and louder they worshiped and cried out. I had this sense that our holy rumble could raise the tin roof from its wooden joists. You could actually feel the worship. I knew little of what was being sung because it was all in Portuguese, but the object of their words was unmistakable. My only reasonable response was to get down on the ground before Almighty God. In the middle of the Amazon jungle, the Lord Himself had come to meet with us.
When I’m in my car listening to my favorite songs, I sing out loud. When I’m cheering at a game, I yell! If I haven’t seen you in a while, I want to hug you. If I were ever to meet someone like the Queen of England, my inclination would be to bow. Our bodies are designed to outwardly express our inward passions. And maybe that last phrase—inward passions—is the key. Perhaps we’re not as passionate about Jesus as we want to be and therefore our outward expression of worship is lacking.
Sometimes when I’m lacking in my love for the Lord, I personalize Ephesians 3:17-19.
Dear Father, root me and establish me in love so that I can comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of Your love. And help me know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge so that I may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Personal Practice: Take a moment to get into a physical posture of worship before the Lord. Spend time praying, praising, or simply being still before Him.
Excerpted from Encountering God Bible Study, Lifeway Press® • © 2021 Kelly Minter
For more of this study, including teaching videos by author Kelly Minter, visit lifeway.com/encounteringgod.
