Jesus
said in Matthew 15:7 – 9 that a person could worship with words but no heart.
He said, quoting Isaiah 29:13, “This people honor me with their lips, but
their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines
the commandments of men.”
The
disconnect of the mouth from the heart is a learned behavior. Around small
children you quickly see the open connection of the mouth with the heart. They
are naturally and innocently honest and will speak what their heart feels. They
must learn from their parents not to say what they know is true. How strange.
Our
heavenly Father desires that we unlearn this kind of behavior especially in His
presence. Heart-felt worship connects your mind and body with your new heart in
Christ and expresses His life as yours. This pleases the Father because this is
what He did through His Son for and to you!
From the
Psalms you learn this kind of true worship. David set the standard for this
kind of heart-felt worship and the other psalm-writers followed in his
footsteps. He poured his heart out to God in worship because he knew that
loving God was the only way to know the love of God. He also knew that God’s
love was a steadfast love, a sacrificial love, an out-pouring love. He learned
that with God you got His heart and that He only wants ours.
An
example of this is seen in a very dramatic scene from David’s life, found in 1
Chronicles 11:15 – 19. It is a passage describing David’s mighty men, his
trusted and loyal bodyguards. Their love and devotion to David reminded him of
his towards God. The telling episode was a time when David’s enemies had taken
control of Bethlehem, his hometown. David spoke the desire of his heart in
11:17 and said, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of
Bethlehem that is by the gate!” The water from that particular well
must have had more than a special taste for David. It was an expression of the
deepest desire imaginable. This is what the Father is seeking as He searchers
for true worshipers.
The
story tells of how three of David’s mighty men fought their way through the
Philistine garrison at Bethlehem, filled a skin of water from the well by the
gate, fought their way out and brought it to David. They must have looked like
a buzz saw of swords and knives risking their lives to please their king and
leader, David. By the time they presented their gift to David, they must have
been quite the sight of fatigue, blood (not all theirs), and their precious
gift of water for David. What a sight the Lord Jesus Christ must have been to
the Father as He was lifted up on the cross, presenting Himself to the Father
for the deepest desire of the Father’s heart, our salvation!
David,
overwhelmed with the sight of what he desired from his heart to present to God
in worship, received their gift and then poured it out to the Lord in worship.
His men had provided him with something of extreme value and worth, giving him
the opportunity to express what was in his heart toward the Lord. These mighty
men were students that day in the class of what it means to worship the Father
in spirit and truth, expressing from the heart the deepest desires of the
heart.
As you
worship the Father today, in spirit and truth from the Psalms, express to God
your deepest desires. Pour out to Him what is in your heart because in Jesus
Christ God did that very thing for you. It pleases the Father when He sees
Himself coming from you to Him. This is what it means to worship the Father in
spirit and truth.
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