Saturday, September 20, 2008

God's Standard of Worship -- Part 2 -- Results

Greetings again. Here is part of 2 of the Standard of Worship devotionals as promised. Many thanks to all of you praying to diligently for my parents in the loss of their house to Hurricane Ike. They are doing quite well and plans are moving forward and progress made in getting them resettled for the next year of rebuilding. There's a really great backstory behind all of this which I'll share in another blog soon. See you from the loft!

Read 1 Chronicles 16:43 – 17:17

Do the blessings end when the last note fades and the final “Amen” is heard? There are those who have not yet learned to carry their worship beyond the walls or beyond the moment. Yet for the heart committed to complete worship, the last note and the final Amen are just the beginning. For at that point, true and complete worship will spill out from the confines of the service and flow beyond the walls to continue the blessings for God and the worshiper.

David was filled with the blessings of the day. The ark had been successfully brought up to Jerusalem, the nation bound in the unity of praise and most of all, God had been glorified in a mighty way. David returned from the service of worship to his household to allow the blessings of his experience to spill over and cover his household.

David’s deep desire to please his God led him to seek God’s desires for His glorification. The bond between man and God was greatly strengthened through such worship, leaving David yearning to further honor his Lord with tangible evidence of his love – evidence which would be a visible blessing to everyone. The Lord was touched by the devoted heart of His servant king and chose to honor him, holding David in high regard according to His standard. In doing so, He blessed David with the promise of a shared throne in an eternal kingdom and David became known as a man after God’s own heart. This became David’s standard, his banner. Ages after would know him thus because he worshiped God the way God wanted to be worshiped.

Seek to worship your Lord and King the way He desires. Come to His altar prepared, ready to participate, offering up all that is within you because you love Him and want to honor Him. Learn how the Lord wants to be worshiped and bond tightly to Him in the course of that worship. Carry your worship beyond your four walls, allowing it to spill out into the world, blessing those around you. Listen carefully to the Lord when He expresses His regard for you and blesses you with His awesome promises in an eternal kingdom. For when we understand the standard of worship, our worship will become our standard, our banner, of who we are to our God and to the world.

Food for Thought:

1. According to Ezra 7:10, how did Ezra carry his worship beyond the worship service and out into his world?


2. Reading Psalm 20:5, Psalm 60:4, Song 2:4 and Isaiah 11:10, 12, what purposes does a standard, or banner, of the Lord fulfill?

3. During the exodus from Egypt, the twelve tribes of Israel each had their own banner or standard used to identify them and their place in the nation of Israel. If you were to design a banner for yourself which would identify you and your place in the world, what would you put on it and why?

Copyright © 2001 Kimberly K. Hannay
All Rights Reserved

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