Let us Bow Down in Worship
Come, let us bow down in worship, and let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Psalm 95:6-7
My goal for 2010 is to spend more time bowing down and kneeling before the Lord my Maker. Worship is a personal activity. We have done so much to make it a corporate action
that it has almost been lost in the vibrancy of our contemporary worship settings. There are those that would scold me for making such an observation. Why, even the scripture you have chosen to use in this Vista article is filled with corporate language; us, our, we, people, flock. I believe this is a huge problem for the body of Christ. We are not taking the right track when it comes to effectual worship.I love the music, I love the bands, and I embrace the liberty and unity that follow vibrant corporate worship in our churches. Still, I think, we are missing a big part of life altering worship.
Bowing down is more than a physical gesture before the Lord. Kneeling is certainly a humbling experience but it isn't effective unless it is seated in the realm of our hearts. (I am striving to stay away from preaching a text so that I can expose my heart and its desire for this coming year.) I believe there is no way we can be an effectual communal people until we are fixed in a personal relationship with God our Maker. In other words, we can't have an effect on the world we walk in every day if we are not affected by God's person in our person. The power is in our personal relationship with God.
I must be passionate in my bowing down before the Lord God. I must be paying special attention when kneeling before Him yielding to His leading and basking in His presence. When I bow down, He raises up in me. When I kneel, He acknowledges my obedience and empowers me for righteousness sake. I must put my personal devotion and worship before my corporate experience and allow the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit to pave the way for communal living as the body of Christ.
The secret to God-honoring unity in His church is the practiced personal worship that defines the steadfast hope that Christ is the Head of His church and the gates of hell will not be able to stand against Him. We are mighty in His Might and more than conquerors when we stand united in His Lordship over His church. Christ has already defeated our enemy and the power is in our honoring His power over sin.
I am learning to find strength in the Sabbath-Rest provided by Christ to His church. Christ has given us a great hope; "It is finished"! He is my God, my Maker, my Hope, my Redeemer. I bow down. I kneel. I lift up my eyes again to serve in His power, His wisdom, His holiness, and His church! He is our God and we are His people. Worship!