Right Posture Before God

Review of the Series and Introduction of Tonight's Third Prerequisite

0:00 We will continue this evening the study which we began this morning, a study basically oriented to two passages of scripture, to which we have brought the light of many other passages of scripture. The first of those passages is in the fourth chapter of the gospel according to St. John, John chapter 4, verses 21 through 24. Our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking with this Samaritan woman, this immoral woman who had had four husbands, is now living in a common law relationship with the fifth, and yet our

0:44 Lord who came to seek and to save sinners is conversing with such a woman, and she seeks to divert him from the issue at hand, namely her sin, for our Lord has been talking with her about her murky past, and she changes the subject and says, well, what's the right place to worship? So the Lord takes her objection and uses it as a springboard to give her a true lesson of worship, and he says in verse 21, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what.

1:23 We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers, that's the key phrase, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. There are true worshipers, and they are marked in terms of this kind of worship.

2:03 Worship, they bring worship that is in spirit and that is in truth. And then the other text, Philippians chapter 3 and verse 3,

2:18 For we are the circumcision, that is, the true people of God, who worship God in the spirit, or better translated, who worship in the spirit of God and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no condemnation. We are the circumcision, that is, the true people of God and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no condemnation. Now, just briefly, to review the thoughts that we covered this morning, this whole matter of worship is talked about so glibly, so lightly, as though merely coming into a stated building and going through a stated ritual was somehow to be construed as worship. But I would remind you that the scripture speaks of vain worship in Mark chapter 7.

3:02 God says, in vain does this people worship me. The scripture says, in vain does this people worship me. God says, in vain does this people worship me. The scripture speaks of worship that is an abomination unto God in Isaiah chapter 1.

3:13 And the text that we looked at in John 4 speaks of true worshipers, indicating that there are such creatures as false worshipers. And it should be the concern of every one of us who at any time, under any circumstances, professes to be a worshiper of God to know whether or not that which we bring to him in the name of worship is true worship. Whether God really is true worship. Whether God really accepts it.

3:39 And so we have been seeking to cull from Holy Scripture those factors which make up true worship, those ingredients which make up a true worshiper. This morning we defined worship in terms of the scriptural picture of worship as a conscious, wholehearted activity directed to God in which we ascribe honor and praise unto God. Unto this great and majestic God. Then we began to consider what are the prerequisites for true worship.

4:15 And we only covered one this morning. Namely, there had to be, excuse me, two, a true knowledge of God. You cannot worship an unknown God. And if it's to be true worship, it must be worship in truth, Christ said.

4:28 That is, the worship we bring to God must be brought to the God who really is. Not some God we have made, but the God who is, and the God who is real. And the God who is revealed in Holy Scripture. That's why Christ said, the Father seeks people to worship him in spirit and in truth.

4:45 But there must not only be right knowledge of God, there must be a spiritual sight of God. There must be inner heart perception of God. Otherwise, our worship will not be in spirit. It will not be from the heart.

4:59 It will be a mere, cold, intellectual exercise. Now tonight, we come to consider the third prerequisite of truth. True worship. Without which there can be no worship.

Biblical Survey of Worship Postures: Principle and Data

5:11 Factor number one, a true knowledge of God. Factor number two, a spiritual sight of God. Factor number three, or ingredient number three, prerequisite number three, a right posture before God. I remember one time an old saint of God coming to me, rather upset because she noticed that in our prayer meeting we did not kneel.

5:34 And she came to me trying to be very, keep her place, it was a woman and she was trying not to lose her place as a woman. And yet at the same time she was quite agitated and her whole agitation was this. She said, don't you think the only proper posture when we pray is on our knees? I said, well, if I could show you that God obviously put his seal of approval on people praying in another posture, would you accept that?

6:02 Well, she looked at me with a little bit of a jaundiced eye. She wasn't going to be, as it were, back to get in the wall and be pinned to where she couldn't get out. But she was willing to hear me out. I said, well, what greater manifestation of the approval of God upon a group of people praying do you find in scripture than when that group was praying in the upper room prior to Pentecost?

6:24 It says they continued steadfastly in prayer. Now, I said, when the Holy Spirit came in power on the day of Pentecost, what posture were the people in?

6:35 I don't remember if she answered, well, they were probably kneeling. I said, no, the Holy Spirit explicitly says, in Acts chapter 2, that he came and filled the room where they were sitting. Now, I said, if God sent his spirit down in power on the day of Pentecost, when some people were praying in a sitting position, I think that's pretty good indication that God's pleased with that posture as well as with kneeling. Now, when I speak of the posture of true worship, and I've used this little anecdote to illustrate this, I am not speaking of a physical posture.

7:09 There is no physical posture. Be it a bowed head, a closed eye, a bent knee, a prostrated body, whatever it be, that can assure us that we are bringing to God true worship.

7:23 But I submit to you that there is a spiritual posture without which we cannot bring worship to God, no matter what physical posture we may assume, and no matter what words we may articulate with the lips. There is a posture of the soul that is in absolute essentialness, essential to true worship. Now, the physical posture is important only so far as it is an honest reflection of the posture of the soul. And it's for this reason that the Holy Spirit has recorded in Holy Scripture literally dozens, several dozen instances.

8:03 We can only look at a few of them tonight, but several dozen instances where it is recorded of a certain group of people, or a certain individual that he or they worshipped. And included in that account of their worship is a description of their physical posture. Now, why has the Holy Spirit done this? Why should the Holy Spirit say in Scripture, as we're going to see tonight, that so-and-so bowed his head and worshipped, that so-and-so fell upon his face and worshipped, that this individual fell before the throne of God and worshipped, this group fell upon...

8:42 of what significance is this description of the physical act? The significance is this. God is showing us that when the posture of the soul is reflected by the physical posture of the body, you have a picture of one of the ingredients of true worship. So, our purpose then, first of all, in looking at some of the biblical data, is not that we might find five or six, six different physical postures which are befitting to worship and then begin to imitate those physical postures.

9:21 No. We want to look at those physical postures and then look behind them at the one common denominator they have of the posture of the soul and emulate the posture of the soul that these people had when they worshipped.

9:37 So much for the principle. Now, let's look at some of the biblical data, shall we? Turn to one of the first instances in which it is recorded, of anyone in Holy Scripture that he or she worshipped. The book of Genesis, chapter 24.

9:56 Genesis 24.

10:01 Here we have the account of the servant of Abraham who has gone to obtain a wife for his son Isaac.

10:12 And when God has been pleased to prosper him in his journey, we read in verse 26, Genesis 24, 26, And the man... bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord.

10:29 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth. I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren. God has answered his prayer. God has allowed him to see the desire of his master Abraham and out of a sense of gratitude, to God, he wants to worship.

10:55 He wants to be engaged in this conscious, wholehearted, God-directed activity of ascribing praise and honor to God. But before he does, it says that he bows his head and then he worships. Notice precisely the same thing in verse 52. A little bit later on, when his mission is obviously more successful, the same chapter, verse 51 and 2, Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken.

11:28 And it came to pass that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. He worshipped, bowing himself to the earth. Now turn to the book of Exodus, chapter 4. We're just going to look at a number of references until you begin to see a common denominator of mood or climate of worship indicated by this physical posture.

12:00 Exodus, chapter 4, and verse 31.

12:06 And the people believed, that is, they believed the words that were spoken by Moses and Aaron. And when they had heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped. Same thing. They thought again.

12:26 In the light of what God had done, they want to consciously, wholeheartedly ascribe praise and honor to God. But before they do, they bow the head, and then they are engaged in worship. Turn to the book of Joshua, please, chapter 5. Joshua is commissioned of God to lead the children of Israel into the promised land as a warrior leading the armies of God.

12:54 And God reveals himself in this script, and in a strange way, he sees a man standing with a drawn sword. And when he sees him, he asks him a question. Art thou for us or for our adversaries? In Joshua 5, in verse 14, we have the answer of this strange personage.

13:16 And he said, nay, that is, neither. I am not for your adversaries or for you, but I come as captain over you and over your armies. But as captain of the host of the Lord, I am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship.

13:38 He fell upon his face and did worship. Once he knew who this person was, none other than our Lord Jesus Christ himself, he wanted to ascribe to him honor and praise. But before he did, he prostrated himself upon the earth. The posture of worship, the bowed head, the prostrate body, as we saw with the servant of Abraham and now with Joshua.

14:05 Then we find essentially the same in Nehemiah 8 and verse 6, where we have the record of the people of God as a group. These first few instances have been individuals. Now when we turn to Nehemiah chapter 8, we find a body of people. Nehemiah chapter 8 and verse 6.

14:26 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up of their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Now you say, how can you have lifted hands and face to the ground? Well, most of you have seen pictures of how the Muslims turned to Mecca five times a day.

First Element of Right Posture: True Humility Defined

14:53 They raised their hands on their knees and then they bowed to the ground. So you can have both. So there's no contradiction. There was the lifting up of the hands in praise and then the bowing to the earth with their faces to the ground.

15:08 It said essentially the same of Job in Job chapter 1. It said again in Psalm 95, 6 and 7, O come, let us kneel down. Let us bow before the Lord our maker. Let us worship him.

15:23 The concept of bowing, the concept of kneeling before the Lord our maker. You find the same thing in the New Testament. And in the interest of time, let me just give you the references in Matthew 2 in verse 11. It is said that when the three Magi came, that they bowed down before the infant Christ and they opened unto him their presence and they did worship him.

15:45 In the temptation in Matthew 4, Satan says to our Lord in verse 9, I'll give thee all the kingdoms of the earth if thou wilt what? Bow down and worship me. The posture. That precedes and attends the worship.

16:02 It is said in Mark 15 in verse 19, that they bowed down and they worshiped our Lord. A very significant verse in 1 Corinthians 14. Let's look at this. The Apostle Paul is dealing with the abuse of certain spiritual gifts.

16:21 And he says, if the whole church would speak the words of God, then unbelievers coming in would be struck with something, namely, the reality of the omniscience of God. The secrets of his heart would be made manifest. 1 Corinthians 14, 25. And the secrets of his heart are made manifest.

16:41 And so falling down on his face, he will worship God. Now, isn't this significant? He mentions the posture. Falling upon his face, he will worship God.

16:54 And then we have those references in Revelation that we read this morning of the elders who fall, fall down before the throne and they worship Satan. Now, when you put all those things together, Abraham's servant, bowing his head, prostrating himself upon the ground. Joshua, prostrating himself and worshiping. The people of Israel, with their hands raised, with their faces to the earth, worshiping.

17:22 If we take the Magi, bowing before the infant Christ, worshiping. If we see the picture of the unbeliever, coming into the assembly, falling upon his face and worshiping. What are the common denominators of all of these things indicated by the description of the posture of worship? Whatever it is, I would submit to you that if you and I do not have that quality indicated by the posture described, we can no more truly worship than a man can swim with his hands and feet tied, than a man can sing with his mouth closed or with his tongue ripped out.

18:07 If you and I would worship, there must be this posture of true worship. Now, what is the meaning of this external posture? May I suggest that two things as a bare essential, there may be more, but I'm convinced these two things are taught in these portions of scripture. Number one, the matter of true humility.

18:33 When we want to tell someone he ought to be proud, what do we say? We say, lift your head high and be proud that you're an American. You see, the whole concept of the lifted head, and it's hard for me to do it tonight because I popped the vertebrae out of place while I was combing my hair yesterday morning. So if I look like I'm a little stiff-necked, it's because I am.

18:52 But when you want to tell someone to be proud, you say, lift up your head, carry your head high. Isn't that the phrase that's used? Carry your head high and be proud that you're this or that. You see, the contrast between the bowed head is the lifted head.

19:08 The lifted head speaks of pride. In Proverbs 6, God says, These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him, a high look and a proud heart. You have the example in the gospels of that Pharisee who lifted up his eyes to heaven, proud of what he was, whereas the publican would not so much as even look up, but he cast his eyes downward. So that that which is spoken of in this posture of the bowed head, that which is spoken of in this posture of prostration before God, bent before him, is that inner posture of humility.

19:49 Now, the question then comes to us, what is humility? Some people have the idea that humility is sort of trying to convince yourself that you're really nothing and kicking yourself down till you feel like a little piece of off scouring, and that's humility. No, no. You know what humility is?

20:08 Humility is simply the creature consciously taking his place before the Creator. That's all humility is. Humility is moral sanity. Humility is looking yourself in the mirror and really seeing what's there.

Practical Counsel: How to Cultivate Humility Before Worship

20:28 And only the man who's been humbled by God really sees what he ought to see when he looks in the mirror. Sin has so deceived us that when we look at the mirror, we see what's there. When we look at the mirror, we don't see a little creature of the dust who's dependent upon God for the very breath he breathes. What do we see?

20:49 We see a man, big man, smart man, controlling his own destiny, determining his own fate, governing his own affairs, getting on quite well without his God. You see, sin has so perverted our senses, we don't see what's really there. And what is humility? It's just restored moral sanity.

21:09 I begin to see myself for what I really am. And what am I? I am a creature who exists by the sheer good pleasure of God. Isn't this what those heavenly creatures acknowledge there in Revelation when they prostrate themselves before the throne and worship?

21:26 Listen to what is the theme of their worship. Revelation 4, verses 10 and 11, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For thou hast created all things. And remember, these elders are things.

21:51 Anything other than God is a thing. You're a thing. I'm a thing. We're the most important thing God has made, but we're things.

22:02 There's only one thing that's not a thing, and that's God. And so these elders are prostrate before the throne of God. Acknowledging. That everything that is created has come by the good pleasure of God, for by thy pleasure they are and were created.

22:21 So when I look in the mirror, what should I see? I should see a creature that is dependent for its very existence upon the sheer good pleasure of God. I could have been forever locked up in nothingness, but here I am, a creature, standing upon God's earth. Breathing God's air with the tremendous potential of knowing and fellowshipping with my Creator.

22:50 Why? Why was not I made a despicable little cockroach? God who made Adam is the God who made cockroach. Why aren't you a cockroach?

23:07 A little mouse whose neck someone's trying to get in a mouse trap. You say, I never thought of that. Well, we ought to. For by thy pleasure all things are and were created.

Second Element of Right Posture: Utter Submission to God's Person and Will

23:24 From the meanest little word. From the most terrible of words. From the euro, from the money, the gold and the silver, everything. Everything is created by the good pleasure of God.

23:34 What is humility? Simply looking in the mirror and seeing that I am the creature dependent upon God for the very existence of my being, for the nature of that being—what I am. Acknowledging that all that I have in the way of sanity, soundness of mind and body. Why?

24:00 Why? Even creatures who've never known sin are worshipped, worshipping creatures. The seraphim, the cherubim, the angels, they worship. Why?

24:08 Because they are created things who owe their very existence to God. So when they worship, they don't stand equal to God and say, thank you. They fall down and prostrate themselves, acknowledging they are creatures. He is their creator.

24:23 But now when it comes to you and me, there's an added ingredient that ought to lead to true humility. We are not only created beings, we are sinful creatures.

24:34 And when the sinful creature stands in the presence of the holy creator, what other posture is fitting but the posture of being in the dust? The creator who holds our eternal destiny in our hands and who could, to the magnifying of his justice, cut us off in our sins and make us an eternal monument to his righteous wrath. And yet he...

24:59 He's born with some of us for months and years in our state of sin and rebellion. And he bears with us to this day. Some of us he has savingly turned to himself. And yet, wonder of wonders, we have done enough since he has showered grace upon us, saving grace, to have forever forfeited any further grace.

25:21 And yet, his faithfulness fails not. His mercy and his grace forbear and care week in and week out. Month in and month out. Well, you see, humility is simply the recognition that as a creature, I owe all that I am to him.

25:39 As a sinful creature, I am a thousandfold indebted to this God for his grace and his patience.

25:50 And so I acknowledge this by that posture of the soul that is best expressed at times by a physical posture so that when these people thought of who God was, and what they were, they instinctively bowed the head. The outward act, a reflection of the inward disposition of the soul. And I wondered as I was meditating upon this, if at least there isn't some analogy here, when it speaks so many times of people worshipping prostrate upon the ground with their bodies close to the dust, if this isn't the most fitting way for a man to acknowledge, that's all I am. He took dust.

26:34 Well, pride and worship are just that, incompatible. You see, you can't strut around nursing a spirit of pride Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and suddenly come Sunday morning and worship. Oh, you may bow your head, but though you boweth on the outside, you stand on the inside. See, pride and worship are incompatible.

Submission to God's Chastenings: David and Job

26:58 This may be explained why there are times you can't worship, because there's a spirit of pride that is unmortified, and uncrucified. If we would worship in spirit and in truth, we must, by God's grace, assume the posture of humility. But you say, Pastor, how do you bring yourself to that place? Well, only the Lord can bring us, but he uses certain means.

27:20 May I suggest a way that will help you to assume this posture?

27:26 If you're not conscious of your earthiness, just sit before a church service sometime. Someone wants to strike up conversation, say, excuse me, I've got business to do. I've got things to do to prepare myself to worship. And just start thinking. Who am I?

27:40 Start looking in the mirror and ask God to help you to put on the right glasses to see yourself as you really are. What am I? A little helpless, frail, conglomeration of a little bit of dust. How long am I going to be here?

27:55 Oh, just a few brief, shadowy years. Scripture says our days pass swifter than a weaver's shovel. They're like a puff of smoke that appears for a little time and vanishes away. I'm a little helpless preacher.

28:12 Dependent for my very breath upon the God who gave it to me and continues to give it to me. If I'm a Christian, I know of nothing that brings humility quicker than this, than to ask myself, where should I be right now? I ought to be a faggot in the flames of hell. And yet here I am, sitting with God's people, preparing myself to lift up my voice in praise.

28:39 I tell you, sometimes it'll make you want to just push the chair back and get on your face, right in the aisle. That's how you do prepare yourself to worship. I shall never forget the time when, in my early twenties, I was privileged to speak at a conference up in Canada, and before me were seated some 1,500, 2,000 people. And that wicked, foul spirit of hell began to try to inject, or if not inject, fan the flames of the residue of pride within my breast.

29:12 That would be a more accurate analogy. Well, here you are. You're in your early twenties. Here are men who've preached for 30, 40 years, before they get asked to a conference.

29:24 And here you are, preaching to all these people. And I just felt them like the billows, you know, just blowing on those sparks and embers of pride. And I shall never forget, as God, I think for the first time, consciously taught me the lesson I'm trying to share with you. As I sat there on the platform, I looked down at my hands.

29:42 I opened them up and I looked at them. And I began to think of those verses, weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever, having two hands to be cast into hell. And as I began to think of where I'd be that very moment had God cut me off in my sins just six, seven short years prior to the moment I sat on that conference platform, and that I'd be an eternal monument to his righteous wrath. As my cries ascended from the pit forever and ever, I tell you it didn't take long for every last conscious vestige

30:19 of pride to shrivel and to acknowledge that I was what I was by the grace of God. You get the idea? I hope you do. Second element that's involved in this posture of true worship.

30:38 I said I was convinced at least two things were indicated by the bowed head, the prostrated body, the bent knee. Humility, and then in the second place, utter submission. Utter submission. This picture is most clearly brought forth, of course, in those passages in the book of the Revelation where we have the account of these creatures, these four and twenty elders who prostrate themselves before the throne of God.

31:12 Notice in Revelation 4.10, it says very explicitly, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and they worship him. Revelation chapter 7 and verse 11. And 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.

31:40 Now, those of us who live in a democracy, the concept of a throne is foreign to us. With all the abuses of big government, we still don't have political dictatorship. So for us to think in terms of a throne, it's very difficult. But if you lived in an oriental society and lived in a society where there was a monarchy, the whole concept of the throne would have tremendous meaning to you.

32:07 The throne is the seat of absolute power and unquestioned authority. There's no higher court of appeal. It's not government of the people, by the people, and for the people. It's government of the throne, by the throne, and for the throne.

32:22 And anyone who comes under the circle of the rights of that throne realizes it. Now, if a good king reigned upon that throne, then he reigned and exercised his authority for the good of his people. If an evil king reigned upon the throne, he exercises his throne rights for his own ends. But whether for good or evil, a throne was a place of absolute authority.

32:45 And whenever a subject came into the presence of his sovereign, he never came standing up. He always came in a posture of a bowed head or a bent knee or a prostrate form. Why? Because the outward form of his physical frame was to be a reflection of his inward disposition to the authority symbolized by that throne.

33:09 So when we read in Revelation 7 and Revelation 4, and we have it again later on in the book of the Revelation, that these elders prostrate themselves before the throne and they worship, this is a beautiful picture of utter abject submission on the part of the creature, in relationship to the authority of God the Creator. So I submit to you that one of the essential ingredients of worship in spirit and in truth is not only this proper posture which denotes humility, but a proper posture of the soul that is characterized by utter submission to God. Submission to his person.

33:52 He is God with absolute right to rule me, to govern me, to tell me anything about myself. He made me, therefore he has the right to direct me. But in a very special way, absolute submission to his revealed will. And when you are taking that position before God consciously, of submission before him, that posture of utter resignation to his revealed will, you are worshiping.

34:20 Now, this answers a very essential question, and it used to bother me, and I don't believe I've just run to scripture to find an answer to justify it. You can do that with almost anything. Why is it that the preaching of the word is central in our protestant worship? That used to bother me.

34:40 We call it a worship service, and more than half the time it's given over to preaching and to listening to sermons. Now, is this consistent with true worship? Well, I want you to turn back to that worship setting in Joshua. I only read one of the verses, and I did this on purpose, and I didn't want to steal my thunder.

34:59 It's bad enough when someone else does it on you, but if you do it on yourself, you have no one to blame but yourself. Turn to the book of Joshua, please. Joshua chapter 5. Now, what we're trying to see is that this matter of a true posture of worship indicates humility on the one hand, and the second aspect of it is submission.

35:28 And that submission involves a disposition of openness to hear and do the revealed will of God. Joshua chapter 5 and verses 14 and 15. Art thou for us or for the adversaries? And the answer, and he said nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord I am come.

35:49 And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. Now, will you notice the connection?

36:18 Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship, and said, What do you want me to know in order that I might do it? You see, an integral part of his worship was this posture of prostration before God, which was an outward symbol of inward submission. Now, when there's inward submission, what does submission need? The disposition of submission needs a directive for the submitted heart.

36:52 It's one thing to say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? It's another thing to know what he'd have us to do. And in a very real sense, worship rises to one of its highest penalties, the highest pinnacles of purity. When the creature who's been brought to brokenness before the throne of God sits in a worship service, not just hearing the preacher's words to analyze them, not just listening to the preacher's sermon in order to evaluate it, no, but when a person sits in that posture that you now sit, with a heart that is in the posture of Joshua, prostrate before God, with this attitude,

37:37 What saith my Lord from his throne unto his servant on his face? So that as the word is preached, the person truly hearing in a context of worship is receiving direction, not from the preacher, not information from the preacher, but he is hearing the word of God. Do you get this register? That's worship.

38:08 That's worship! Because you've taken the place of prostration before God, waiting for that word to come. This is why the Reformation brought preaching back to the centrality in worship. For what's more important, the ascriptions of praise which I bring to God, or the infallible direction for life which God brings to me?

38:40 I think the answer is obvious. For at best my sight of God is dim, therefore my praise of Him is limited, but His word to me is a perfect word, for He is God, and He knows me altogether, and He knows what His design and plan for my life is. So, one of the essential elements of true worship is a right posture, a posture of the bent head, the prostrate body, the bowed knee, which denotes humility on the one hand, submission on the other, submission to His person, submission to His revealed will.

39:24 May I touch on one other area in which this is very practical? Submission to His chastenings. Two examples in Holy Scripture. First of all, 2 Samuel chapter 12.

39:37 2 Samuel chapter 12. You'll remember the setting. David has grievously sinned in this illicit relationship with Bathsheba. Almost a year has passed.

39:55 Nathan the prophet has come, and David has been smitten with conviction, has confessed his sin to God. But this child born of this illicit union, the judgment of God has been pronounced upon it, and he says, Nathan does to David, the child shall die. God will forgive you, but He's going to chastise you in taking the life of this child. Now, that brings us to 2 Samuel 12 and verse 15.

40:26 And Nathan departed unto his house, and the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose and went to him to raise him up from the earth, but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died.

40:53 And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke unto him, and he would not hearken to our voice. How will he then vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead? If we simply tell him the child is sick and no better, and he won't hear us for his grief, how can we break the news to him that the child is dead? He'll be deranged.

41:15 He'll go out of his mind. But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

41:30 Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his apparel and came into the house of the Lord and what? Worshipped. He came into the house of the Lord and worshipped. What did he do?

41:52 He bowed before the throne and he said, O God, all that thou doest is good. You see, it isn't as though he just won a wonderful victory and came into the house of the Lord and worshipped. That's easy. To acknowledge that God in his sovereign power gave the victory.

42:16 But the same God has touched the darling bosom child and the news comes it's dead. The child is dead, but he worships. O beloved, God is not going to teach us to worship. Simply by showering blessing upon us and then giving us the grace to acknowledge the hand from which the blessing comes.

42:37 God teaches most of his children to worship by touching something very dear in the way of personal possession, loved ones, property, ambition, something that's very dear. And when we can look up through bitter tears and say from the depths of the heart, O God, thou art God, take that posture of being prostrate before the throne, never standing up and bringing God to account to us as to why he's done what he's done. Bowing down and saying, You're God, free to do as you will. Then we're learning to worship.

43:20 One other example in Holy Scripture. Turn up to the book of Job, if you will. Almost an exact parallel of this. Job chapter 1.

43:28 Again, you remember the tremendous testimony about Job, that he lived a blameless life. God had wonderfully blessed him with children and material possessions, a very wealthy, very rich man. And yet in one day the news comes that his wealth is gone, his children are dead, and all his possessions taken from him. Job 1, verses 20 and 21.

43:55 Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and began to beat the ground, saying, O God, why, why, why?

44:12 Isn't it a shame? God touches some one thing of ours and we're tempted to throw a tantrum. You know, a little child when it throws a tantrum, it's down on the ground, but that's not a posture of submission. That's a posture of rebellion.

44:25 And the ground seems to be the thing it can beat the most without having it beat back. So a child throws itself on the ground. Now Job didn't throw himself on the ground and have a tantrum. Lord, why, why, why?

44:37 Notice what it says. He shaved his head, fell upon the ground, and worshiped and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb. See, he looked in the mirror and saw himself rightly. Naked came I out of my mother's womb.

44:54 Naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave. The Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

45:04 You see this essential ingredient of true worship? Utter submission to the person of God, to the revealed will of God, to the chastening of God. Let me say in closing application tonight, it's obvious if you sit here tonight as a child of Adam, a man or woman who's never been brought to bow in brokenness before the throne of God and confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, acknowledging that by nature you're a rebel and a proud, self-sufficient, independent creature who thinks you can make it on your own. You can never truly worship.

45:47 What does God say of all this so-called worship that ascends from many a so-called house of worship all across our country Sunday after Sunday from men and women who've never been bent and broken in humility like that publican who would not so much as even lift up his eyes to heaven but casting his eyes to the earth said, God be merciful to me. All of that so-called worship is an abomination in the sight of God. See a little sign on the billboard, worship in your church this week. Yeah, it's easy to say, but you'll never worship till the posture of brokenness and humility is grafted into your spirit by the Holy Spirit.

46:30 And so I say to any of you who may be strangers to God's grace, you have never worshiped one moment of your life until you fall in brokenness before Jesus Christ. But I also say to you who by God's grace have been brought into a saving relationship to Jesus Christ, you can't worship if you've got any conscious controversy with God. If you're throwing a little temper tantrum saying, Lord, why, why, instead of blessed be the name of the Lord, you can't worship. And if there are those embers of pride being blown by the billows of the enemy of our souls and you're welcoming those bellows,

47:13 I meant bellows, not billows, then you can't worship. Can't. If you have any conscious controversy with the throne, you can't fall before that throne and worship. Beloved, if we believed this, we wouldn't dare appear here on a Sunday morning with any conscious controversy with us or with the Lord.

47:32 Let me share a little testimony in closing and show how real this is. A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I had some words. It was rare. We don't often have them, but we have them.

47:42 And we had some words Sunday morning before coming to church. And on the way in the car, I tried to see where I may have been wrong in my evaluation of the situation. And before God, I felt I had dealt with it right and I tried to get her to see my point of view. And we still hadn't resolved the thing.

48:02 I say it's a rare time when that happens, but it happened. And I just said to her, I said, dear, I can't go and stand up and lead the people in worship. If this thing is not resolved between us, I can't do it. And I will not do it.

48:13 It would be mockery to God. Seek to lead you people to worship before the throne of God when I have a controversy with that throne? God would strike my tongue and make it a stammering, blubbering instrument. I came out between Sunday school and church, sidled over to my wife.

48:34 I said, honey, is everything all right now? And I knew the way she looked at me that the issue had been settled. And I felt I could go and worship. It's very real, people.

48:44 I don't set myself up as a model, but I want you to know as your pastor, I'm trying to walk down the path that I'm trying to lead you. How can we worship when some of us have had words with our wives or husbands and we come with a heart stewing full of bitterness? Some of you kids, some of you young people, you come, just haven't had a good gripe with your brother or sister, not broken before. How can we worship?

49:13 God's dealing with us about something and we're fighting God. How can we worship? Oh, may God teach us the holy art of prostrating ourselves before the throne, inwardly, before we ever come through the doors to worship in community. I believe if we are found worshiping from that posture of brokenness, God the Holy Ghost will make so real to us the presence of Christ in the midst of our gathering that there'll be times when we'll have to say like some of the saints of old have said, Lord, stay thy hand, I can take no more.

49:48 The Father seeketh such to worship Him in spirit and in truth. The prerequisites of true worship, a true knowledge of God, a saving sight of God, a right posture before God, the bowed head, the bent knee, the prostrate form, outward indications of this inward disposition of humility and of utter submission. If you want an interesting study, you see how those two characteristics were beautifully illustrated even in our Lord Jesus Christ who had no sin over which to be humbled and yet He walked in humility and in utter submission.

50:32 No wonder He could worship and say, Holy Father. For He said, I do always the things that please. He is our great example. I hope we don't have time to enlarge that tonight.

50:43 I hope that you'll search it out on your own and God will bless you as you do. Let us unite in prayer. Oh God, as we have moved forward in our seats to bend our heads and bow our necks and bow our heads and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks

51:26 and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks and bow our necks for our pride, for our rebellion, for our stubbornness, for throwing little temper tantrums when you've dealt with us in strange ways. Oh, God, teach us to be like Job, to be like David. And for those who sit among us like that proud Pharisee who've never seen themselves lost and undone, needing the mercy of God in Christ,

52:08 who've never fled with a holy desperation to the cross, Lord, may this word that they have heard tonight fix itself in their hearts like an arrow whose barbs cause the point of that arrow to be embedded in the flesh. Oh, may thy word be thus embedded in the heart and there do its work until they cry with that publican, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. We thank thee for thy presence with us. Send us to our homes.

52:42 We thank thee for those rejoicing in thee, our great and God, worthy of praise, worthy of our worship.

52:50 And for all that you will do in answer to our prayer, we thank thee through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

52:57 Amen.