Reservation for One
Posted in integrity, Misti's Posts 1 comments
We were created to worship. From Cain & Abel giving the tithe of their labors to Revelation 14:7--"Fear God, and give Him glory...worship Him who made the heaven & the earth..."--the Bible is filled with references to worship. The desire to worship is so ingrained in our DNA that even if we don't know God, we will still worship something. "Burn with fire the graven images; do not covet the silver or the gold that is on it or take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it" Deut. 7:25 (paraphrased). Money, possessions, drugs, relationships, and even the desire for safety or prosperity can become objects of our worship.
When we worship the wrong things, people can see it. There is commitment-however misplaced. There is passion-we are all in. That's why it's so hard to break the hold these things can get on us.
I would be willing to bet that each of us at some point has checked out our neighbors during church. We have watched others as they sing, looked at the paper of the person next to us on the pew to see if we're on the same page. Ever notice how many frowns are in a congregation during worship? That's so ironic to me. As we stand and worship the King of kings and Lord of lords, we can't even muster a happy look! Some of the time, we may even be stifling a yawn! When we worship worldly things, we put everything we have into it, but when we worship God, we fail to give even a tithe of our energy.
Why is there such a disparity between these things? Why must we be quiet, subdued, composed--even bored--when we worship the one true God? David wasn't reserved in his worship. 2 Samuel 6:14-15 says, "And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn." Wasn't David called, "a man after God's own heart"? He had a love for God that was true, passionate, and enduring-despite his failures and sins recorded in the Bible.
The answer to the question of 'why' is in this same chapter of 2 Samuel. We find our answer in Michal, David's wife. She saw him dancing. She watched him give his whole heart and all his energy to the Lord in front of all the people. Unlike God, she did not see inside his heart. She only saw the exterior. "As the LORD’s chest entered David’s City, Saul’s daughter Michal was watching from a window. She saw King David jumping and dancing before the LORD, and she lost all respect for him." v. 16. Michal drew her own conclusions about David's motives, based solely on appearances. She even said to him, “How did Israel’s king honor himself today? By exposing himself in plain view of the female servants of his subjects like any indecent person would!”
This is the very thing that causes our reservations during worship. At times, we may even make Michal's judgement on people in our own congregation when they lift their hands, kneel at the altar, or speak out an "Amen!" or "Praise the Lord!" It's also what we fear-others looking at us, seeing our true worship and 'losing respect' for us.
Jesus tells us in Matthew that those who seek the approval of men have their reward on this earth. He tells us to do good deeds, and not call attention to ourselves. He tells us to seek God and only God during our prayers. And, as David demonstrates, He tells us to worship without reservations. Our proper response to God's goodness is told in David's response to his wife's criticism: “I was celebrating before the LORD...and I will celebrate before the LORD again! I may humiliate myself even more, and I may be humbled in my own eyes, but I will be honored by the female servants you are talking about!”
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and foremost commandment." Matthew 22: 37-38
When we worship the wrong things, people can see it. There is commitment-however misplaced. There is passion-we are all in. That's why it's so hard to break the hold these things can get on us.
I would be willing to bet that each of us at some point has checked out our neighbors during church. We have watched others as they sing, looked at the paper of the person next to us on the pew to see if we're on the same page. Ever notice how many frowns are in a congregation during worship? That's so ironic to me. As we stand and worship the King of kings and Lord of lords, we can't even muster a happy look! Some of the time, we may even be stifling a yawn! When we worship worldly things, we put everything we have into it, but when we worship God, we fail to give even a tithe of our energy.
Why is there such a disparity between these things? Why must we be quiet, subdued, composed--even bored--when we worship the one true God? David wasn't reserved in his worship. 2 Samuel 6:14-15 says, "And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn." Wasn't David called, "a man after God's own heart"? He had a love for God that was true, passionate, and enduring-despite his failures and sins recorded in the Bible.
The answer to the question of 'why' is in this same chapter of 2 Samuel. We find our answer in Michal, David's wife. She saw him dancing. She watched him give his whole heart and all his energy to the Lord in front of all the people. Unlike God, she did not see inside his heart. She only saw the exterior. "As the LORD’s chest entered David’s City, Saul’s daughter Michal was watching from a window. She saw King David jumping and dancing before the LORD, and she lost all respect for him." v. 16. Michal drew her own conclusions about David's motives, based solely on appearances. She even said to him, “How did Israel’s king honor himself today? By exposing himself in plain view of the female servants of his subjects like any indecent person would!”
This is the very thing that causes our reservations during worship. At times, we may even make Michal's judgement on people in our own congregation when they lift their hands, kneel at the altar, or speak out an "Amen!" or "Praise the Lord!" It's also what we fear-others looking at us, seeing our true worship and 'losing respect' for us.
Jesus tells us in Matthew that those who seek the approval of men have their reward on this earth. He tells us to do good deeds, and not call attention to ourselves. He tells us to seek God and only God during our prayers. And, as David demonstrates, He tells us to worship without reservations. Our proper response to God's goodness is told in David's response to his wife's criticism: “I was celebrating before the LORD...and I will celebrate before the LORD again! I may humiliate myself even more, and I may be humbled in my own eyes, but I will be honored by the female servants you are talking about!”
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and foremost commandment." Matthew 22: 37-38
1 comments:
Thanks so much for this Misti. I thought about it yesterday at church. Since I was raised Catholic (where they don't really raise hands or anything like that), it was always a bit of a mystery to me why people would raise their hands or speak out. I wasn't quite to the judgment that Michal passed, but I was also well short of the understanding of David. I will remember this and will try to be more like David.
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