Bow to the King - January 9 Readings: Psalm 95

We are going to "enter the year with praise." Our January readings and devotionals will all focus on the goodness and grace of God. Get a journal or notebook to write down your thoughts every day. Our passages are shorter - please don't rush through them. Take time to meditate and consider why God is worthy of your praise.

Enter 2020 with the praise of God on your lips!

Today's Praise Passage:  Psalm 95

Come, let us shout joyfully to the Lord,
shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving;
let us shout triumphantly to him in song.
 3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
4 The depths of the earth are in his hand,
and the mountain peaks are his.
5 The sea is his; he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
 6 Come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep under his care.
Today, if you hear his voice:
8 Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the wilderness
9 where your fathers tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was disgusted with that generation;
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray;
they do not know my ways.”
11 So I swore in my anger,
“They will not enter my rest.”

Through the Bible Reading: Genesis 19-20, Matthew 7, Psalm 6:6-10, Proverbs1:29-31

Some of our readers want a little more "meaty" devotional, so I am including a link to the through Through the Bible in One Year readings we did last year. 

Devotional: Bow to the King!

Wow, we had a great worship service today!

What do people mean when they say that? Usually, they mean that there was a full building and great enthusiasm. Maybe the music was rocking and they felt a sense of God's presence. Perhaps they refer to the sermon that the pastor preached when we opened the word of God and delivered the truth from heaven to the lives we live on earth.

And all of that matters. It matters that our hearts are lifted up in exaltation to God. Too many evangelical churches treat emotion like a disease. It ought never to the engine of worship, but if our time in God's presence with the Body of Christ does not move us deeply, something is not right. And the word of God ought to stir our souls as well. Pastors ought to bring powerful messages from the Bible that draw people to examine their lives and become like Christ.

But none of that is true worship. You can attend church, sing every song, stand and wave your arms, feel deep emotions, listen carefully to the sermon, take notes, and shout amen loudly, and still leave church without having worshiped the Living God. That is because there is a specific act of worship, inherent in the word itself, that is the sine qua non of the practice of worship. If you do this act, you have worshiped. If you do not, no matter what else you do, no matter how loudly, how enthusiastically, or how emotionally you do it, you have not worshiped.

Psalm 95:6-7 makes this absolutely clear. A few days ago we looked at the three "Acts of Worship" spelled out in Psalm 96. This passage focuses on the heart and soul of worship.

"Come let us worship and bow down." 

The Psalmist is not speaking of two separate things, but one - that's what Hebrew parallelism is all about. Worshiping God is bowing down to him, subjecting yourself to the King of kings. Worship is the act of bowing before the God of heaven and acknowledging his right to rule your life. "Your will is my command, Your Highness!" There is no worship without that act.

• Worship is not simply singing songs, it is bowing before the King. 
• Worship is not just listening to sermons, it is bowing before the King. 
• Worship is not the act of giving offerings, it is bowing before the King. 

All of those acts are designed to help us worship, to bow down and give our lives anew to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Worship isn't about how you feel, it is about what you do. Did you bow the knee before your King and submit yourself again to him as your Lord?

Father, I worship you as my King. I bow my knee to you, humbly. You own me. You rule me. 

Think and Pray:

Meditate on this passage and write down:

1. The character qualities of God for which you can praise him. 

2. The gracious acts of God for which you can give thanks to him. 

Does your life reflect the idea that Jesus is Lord?
Is he your king?