Worshiping on the High Ways

Becoming a true worshiper, one who worships the Father in spirit and truth is a learning experience. God’s word is the textbook and the Holy Spirit is your Teacher. As God reveals more and more of Himself to you in His Son, Jesus Christ, you know Him more and more. One of the ways that He does this is by His ways. The Bible states clearly that the ways of God are higher than the ways of man (Isaiah 55:9). The ways of God are the high ways!

One of the words for “ways,” is the Hebrew word orak, which is used many times in the Old Testament and translated as “path,” as in a well-trodden road. For example, it is used to describe the caravan routes of the ancient world (Job 6:18), and for the main roads that connected the major cities of the world (Judges 5:6). With that understanding, in the context of the ways of God, you understand that the orak of God are the great attributes of His character and nature.

Psalm 25:10 states, “All of the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.” These are mammoth truths, highways to travel on with God concerning His revelation of Himself to you and connecting Himself with you. It says that God’s orak are all characterized by His choice of loving you and your willingness to see the surpassing value of that choice.

The Hebrew word translated “steadfast love” is the word kesed. It is also translated as “mercy,” and many times as “loving-kindness.” The New Testament word for this is “grace.” It describes God’s willful choice to love and enter into a loving relationship with those who will trust Him. The Hebrew word emet, “faithfulness,” is a twin to kesed simply because God remains faithful to His own choice to love.

God has chosen to love you and He is faithful to His own choice of you. His desire, His will, is for you to chose to love Him and enter into a loving relationship, a covenant, with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. As you do, God reveals more and more of the truth and goodness of His choice of you. It becomes clearer and clearer that this is not about you, but more and more of Him! Hallelujah!!!

All of the ways of God are seen in God’s choice and love for you and His faithfulness to His choice and love for you. This is the major thoroughfare and highway, the orak, of God for you to travel as you learn of Him and become a true worshiper. This is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Today, memorize Psalm 25:10 and meditate on how great, how wide, how deep, how high is God’s choice and faithfulness of His love for you.

Remember When You Worship

One of the most important words in the Old Testament is the word “remember.” In Hebrew, it is the word zakar, and means to meditate upon, to recall, to confess, to rehearse, to think about, to record. It is used over 300 times in one form or another. Remembering is one of the ways of God.

In Psalm 25:6 – 7, it says, “Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love, remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!” In these two verses you learn why remembering is one of the ways of God. He meditates upon His own goodness. The Lord recalls what He has said and what He has done. He thinks about His own faithfulness and His steadfast love. Remembering is one of His ways. It pleases God to remember.

Our memories are marred with sin. When we think about “the good old days,” it is always in the context of having lost something along the way in comparison to the present days. We remember and want to go back. But God remembers Himself with the present and future in mind! He is eternal. God does not lose anything along the way. His memory gives Him joy and glory because He recalls His faithfulness and He knows He will always be faithful! He looks forward to what He is about to do, according to what He has said He will do!

God desires us to remember what He has said and what He has done. In the Old Testament, God established the feasts of Israel to remember His mighty deeds and to point forward to His promises. They were the foundation of Israel’s worship because they pointed to God in their past, so that they could recognize His activity in their present, and to trust His promises for their future. Remembering gave meaning and purpose to their lives.

When Jesus took the bread and the wine of the Passover in the upper room with His disciples and said, “…do this in remembrance of me,” Luke 22:19, He was giving the full meaning of the OT feasts as they pointed to Him as well as giving His disciples the foundation of worship in the New Covenant with Him.

When Jesus hung on the cross, the Scripture says that He was crucified between two thieves. One railed at Him saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

At that moment, Jesus must have heard the prayer of Psalm 25:6 – 7 coming from the lips of the thief, and He replied, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:39 – 42.

This man was certainly confessing his sin and guilt and was acknowledging Jesus’ innocence. But he was also confessing his faith in Jesus as the coming King. Jesus may not have appeared at that moment as a king, but the man expressed his faith that Jesus one day would reign as King! This brings glory to the Father and this is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Today, remember what God has said by meditating on His word. Remember what He has done in your life with gratitude and joy. And recall His promises. God is with you and Christ is coming again! Hallelujah!!!

Instructions For Sinners in Worship

Once you have decided to become a true worshiper, one who worships the Father in spirit and truth, you commit yourself to come under the training of the Holy Spirit from the word of God. With that decision comes the understanding that you are not a true worshiper, but that you have been invited by the true Teacher, the Holy Spirit, to receive the right way to worship the Father. This is a humbling experience with the Lord. This is an enlightening experience with God. You will never be the same again, which is one of the ways of God.

In Psalm 25:8 – 9, you read, “Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.” One of the ways of God is that He gives instructions to sinners concerning His ways. And God is right in doing this, and it is good.

The Hebrew word for “sinners” is katah, and has the meaning of being on the wrong road and missing the destination. This is also called being lost and not knowing it. It is a humbling experience to learn that you have gone astray and that you are lost and do not know where you are going. Some will not believe and remain full of their own understanding and pride. But God instructs sinners who believe that they are wrong and that He is right, all the time and in every way!

The word for “instructs” is one of the primitive root words in the Hebrew language. It is the word yarah. Originally it meant to throw something with a forward motion and with great force. This developed into the idea of an archer shooting a straight arrow with a true bow. It later was used with the understanding of being refreshed with water after near exhaustion.

Used in the context of learning the ways of God it has the meaning of someone who has totally exhausted all of their ways, unable to move in the right direction or make any progress in life at all, when suddenly, like a bolt of lighting, God appears with the truth! With the truth, God gives a new direction, a forward momentum with great power, His power, in the right direction.

This is a humbling experience for sinners as well as an enlightening experience with great joy and refreshment! He instructs sinners in the way. God is good and right in doing this. He sees Himself in the instruction in your life and it pleases Him to do this. This is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Waiting to Know the Ways of God

Psalm 25 is a song about the ways of God. The Hebrew word derek, which is translated “ways,” is used several times in this psalm. It is also translated in this psalm as the word “lead.” When you decide to follow Jesus, He leads you in the ways of God.

In 25:4 – 5 you see the connection of learning the ways of God, from the word of God, as you wait upon the Lord. “Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”

In learning this prayer you discover that the ways of God are learned from a personal, intimate, interactive relationship with God. The word “know” in the first line is the Hebrew word yada. This is not the knowledge about something, it is the knowledge of someone. It is a personal relationship word. This means that you can only know the ways of God within a personal, intimate, interactive relationship with God. Learning the ways of God is a worship experience!

The request “Lead me” in 25:5 is the Hebrew word derek, the same word for “way.” God leads in one direction; according to His ways and His word. As you desire to learn the ways of God from the word of God and begin moving in His direction, your request for guidance and being in His will is answered.

Another instructive Hebrew word in this passage is the word for “wait.” It is the Hebrew word kavah. It is first used in the OT in the creation account in Genesis 1:9, when God “gathered” the waters together to form the seas and the dry land. It also means to join and bind together. It was the word for making rope out of three cords as they are bound together into one. This word is used in Isaiah 40:31, “…but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Learning the ways of God requires waiting upon the Lord, which means to be gathered and bound together with Him in His word. This requires your time and your attention. This is simple, but not easy. Laziness is the enemy of learning the ways of God. The world, the flesh, and the devil will fight you every step of the way. But the reward is eternal! And this is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth.

The Right Way to Worship

One of the key words in the Old Testament for worship is the Hebrew word, derek, which is translated “way,” or “path.” It is used to describe the lifestyle or culture of both the righteous and the wicked. Psalm 1 says that the blessed man is the one who does not “stand in the way of sinners.” Not only does he not travel in their direction, he does not even go near it. This Psalm ends with the clear instruction, “The LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

The first place this word is used in the OT is in Genesis 3:24, “…he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” God had a particular path, His way, to the tree of life. Because of their sinful condition, Adam and Eve would be blocked from knowing that path. In a sense, their steps were no longer straight. Their heart was divided. Their life was fractured. They were unable to walk in the way pleasing to the Lord, in His way.

The cry of the psalmist was to learn the way of the LORD. Psalm 86:11 says, “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” In that simple request you learn that the way of the Lord is a particular direction, that it must be learned from God, that it is learned from His word, and that it has purpose. The purpose of learning the way of the Lord is to live a life of worshiping the Father in spirit and truth.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. When you decide that you desire to learn the ways of God you begin with Christ and learn of Him. All of the ways of God are seen in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every step He took pleased the Father.

The way to the tree of life is no longer blocked. It was opened with the invitation of Jesus when He said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and learn of me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28 – 30.

The first step in the journey of becoming a true worshiper who worships the Father in spirit and truth, is the step of following Christ. Learning the ways of God is to learn of Christ and His ways.

Today, learn and the prayer of Psalm 86:11. Know what you are asking God for in that prayer and the path of it. Meditate on the destination of that prayer and you will be transformed along the way.