THE HEART OF WORSHIP

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.

Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”

Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.


Ezra 7:73b, 8:1-12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What does the true spirit of worship look like? I believe we get a glimpse of this as we look at Nehemiah, Chapter 8.

The chapter begins in Tisri, the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar. We read where the “Israelites had settled in their towns” before gathering “together as one in the square before the Water Gate.”

Why did they gather? The congregation of Israelites wished to hear the word of God.

As we gather together in church on Sundays with our brothers and sisters who came from where they have settled in, do we come together with the same sense of anticipation…eager to hear the word of God?

I think you’ll agree that we should be. For an excitement to experience God’s word is one of the essential components at the heart of worship.

There was no better one to deliver the word of God, and in particular God’s law, than Ezra, who you’ll remember returned from exile in Babylon to do just that…teach God’s law to the Israelites. And so we read where the gathered worshippers (which included “men and women and all who were able to understand”) asked for “Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.” Ezra did as they requested and while standing on a “high wooden platform built for the occasion”, he “brought the Law before the assembly”, reading it “from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence (of)…all the people (who) listened attentively to the Book of the Law.”

How long have you spent in worship on any one Sunday? I doubt that many of us stood from the break of day through noon, listening attentively to God’s word as the gathered Israelites did. Hopefully, if the opportunity presented itself we would do as they did, our deep hunger for God’s word transcending any other demands we might have on a day of worship.

For we are not only expected by God to be excited and eager to hear His word but we should be willing to spend as much time as possible in learning from it, longing to be fed by His wisdom and guidance more than anything else the world might present as an alternative. A heart for worship is just that…worship where the heart is fully invested, no matter how long that worship might be. We definitely see this portrayed in the actions of the people of Israel.

So how did the people respond to Ezra’s teaching? Our scriptures tell us that as Ezra “opened the book” of the Law of Moses, the people “all stood up” which led to Ezra, the worship leader, to praise “the Lord, the great God”. In response to Ezra’s praise, “all the people lifted their hands and responded, ‘Amen! Amen!’” before bowing down and worshiping “the Lord with their faces to the ground.”

Do you sense the atmosphere of complete reverence for God in the Israelite’s Jerusalem worship?

As the book of the Law of Moses was opened, the people stood in respect to receive God’s Holy Word. Ezra, the worship leader, displayed praise unto the Giver of the holy Word he was about to read. And the people, in a display of full humbleness before the God of all, bowed down to worship the Lord with their faces to the ground.

We typically don’t see this sense of worship in our churches today, I’m afraid. We too often sit in the pews almost like we sit at home before the television. And unfortunately, maybe we’re more invested in the television than we are in receiving the holy Word of God in worship. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It’s obvious that the heart of Israel was fully invested in worshiping the God who had provided so much for them. He was their treasure and so it was easy to bow before Him in humble and dedicated worship. The heart of worship for them began with their own hearts turned to God in humble submission. God still expects us to do so today.

Ezra wasn’t the only teacher on the first day of the seventh month. For we read where the people were also taught by “the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah” who “read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.”

God lifted up teachers to explain the Word of God to others. He did so in the days of Nehemiah and He still does so today. I feel blessed to have answered that calling from God for nearly 20 years now. To understand the Lord and His expectations for us in life, we need His Word but we also need those He has blessed with the gift of interpretation and instruction. Another element at the heart of worship is an understanding of God’s Word and how it applies to the way we live as we seek to carry out God’s will.

Well, after receiving the instruction from the Word of God, scripture tells us that many of the people of Israel became emotional, mourning and weeping. Perhaps the tears were brought on by conviction, a sorrow from knowing that they had not kept God’s law and had allowed sin to creep into their lives. Maybe the tears were tears of joy as the people reflected on what God has done for them and their ancestors.

Either way, we see where “Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing” urged the people to not be in remorse saying, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” Instead, Nehemiah exhorted the people to “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” And with that, “all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.”

When we come to worship, with an excitement and dedication toward receiving the teaching from the Word of God, we can expect that in the midst of our worship and our coming to understanding, we will often sense remorse from conviction or tears of happiness as we are reminded of how good the Lord has been to us and others. But as we experience these emotions, we should leave worship with a culminating sense of joy…because as Nehemiah shared with the people of Israel, “the joy of the Lord is (our) strength.” No matter what we go through in or outside of worship, we should always remember this…that the joy of the Lord is always our strength.

After all, that’s why we worship the Lord isn’t it? We do so out of the pure joy of knowing Him, of serving Him, of being blessed by Him.

Do you live your life each day in the truest heart of worship for God…a worship that is based on a deep, heartfelt joy for the Lord and all He is to you?

If so, then you are already living with a heart that is centered on the heart of worship.

If not, why not truly let the joy of the Lord be your strength? For in the midst of life’s circumstances, we can only live in the spirit of rejoicing by way of the Lord’s strength…a strength by which we can do all things (Philippians 4:13).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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