Honoring, Serving, and Respecting God (2)

Intro:

Right disposition of the heart and the demonstration of this in the whole of religious and moral conduct. Here is indeed the true uniqueness of the religion of Israel. H. Strathmann

“If you do not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him on one day a week. There is no such thing known in Heaven as Sunday worship unless it is accompanied by Monday worship and Tuesday worship and so on.” A.W. Tozer

Remember the definition of worship used at the beginning of this study?

Engaging with God on the terms HE proposes and in the way that HE alone makes possible.

Now we are going to look at some terms and actions and their significance and what they meant for people in the Old Testament times to engage with God.

Worship as Homage or Grateful Submission

From the Greek Bible most commonly translated “to worship” is : proskynein pros—towards kynein—to kiss

Argued the compound originally referred to a kiss of respect or adoration blown towards one of a higher rank.

Earlier in Greek literature expressed the widespread oriental custom of casting oneself on the ground as a total bodily gesture of respect before a great one, kissing his feet, the him of his garment or the ground.

Some have argued it only implied a gesture of kneeling or prostration, others have argued that there is evidence for some continued association with the gesture of kissing.

Early stages—proskynein—inward attitude of homage or respect which the outward gesture represented.

Septuagint—Greek Bible—proskynein was used in the same range of meaning as in non-Biblical literature.

It renders some form of histah wa

Literal meaning of the verb—170 times in the Hebrew Bible is “bend oneself at the waist”.

Greek term is very apt rendering of the Hebrew, BUT should be recognized that bowing or bending over, rather than casting oneself on the ground is the usual method of expressing homage in the Bible.

Genesis 18:2 NLT

2 He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground.

Exodus 18:7 NLT

7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. He bowed low and kissed him. They asked about each other’s welfare and then went into Moses’ tent.

1 Kings 1:47 NLT

47 And all the royal officials have gone to King David and congratulated him, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s fame even greater than your own, and may Solomon’s reign be even greater than yours!’ Then the king bowed his head in worship as he lay in his bed,

Simple greeting with respect

Genesis 23:7 NLT

7 Then Abraham bowed low before the Hittites

Genesis 23:12 NLT

12 Abraham again bowed low before the citizens of the land,

Genesis 37:7 ESV

7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.”

Genesis 37:9–10 ESV

9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”

Expression of obeisance or subservience

Ruth 2:10 NLT

10 Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. “What have I done to deserve such kindness?” she asked. “I am only a foreigner.”

1 Samuel 20:41 NLT

41 As soon as the boy was gone, David came out from where he had been hiding near the stone pile. Then David bowed three times to Jonathan with his face to the ground. Both of them were in tears as they embraced each other and said good-bye, especially David.

Homage with gratitude

Exodus 11:8 NLT

8 All the officials of Egypt will run to me and fall to the ground before me. ‘Please leave!’ they will beg. ‘Hurry! And take all your followers with you.’ Only then will I go!” Then, burning with anger, Moses left Pharaoh.

2 Samuel 14:4 NLT

4 When the woman from Tekoa approached the king, she bowed with her face to the ground in deep respect and cried out, “O king! Help me!”

2 Samuel 16:4 NLT

4 “In that case,” the king told Ziba, “I give you everything Mephibosheth owns.” “I bow before you,” Ziba replied. “May I always be pleasing to you, my lord the king.”

Posture of supplication or entreaty

Whatever the situation, it was a recognition of the total dependence of one party on another for the provision of some need.

Sometimes an outburst of praise, but sometimes the gesture appears to have been sufficient to express the trust and gratitude of those concerned.

Even in the formal/corporate systematic context the gesture of bending over tot he Lord was regularly a response to some reminder of His character and purposes.

Wrong to conclude that a particular posture or gesture is somehow essential to true worship.

HOWEVER

O.T. makes it clear that faith, gratitude, and obedience are the essential requirements for acceptable worship.

Worship as Service

Another term used in the Greek Bible often translated “to worship” is: latreuein

In both Biblical and non-Biblical literature it is more adequately rendered “to serve”.

Israel’s redemption from slavery was to release the people for service to God on the mountain where he first revealed Himself to Moses Ex. 3:12

Worship as Reverence or Respect