Worship Reflects Our Relationship to God - Treasures of Faith - Week 2 Day 4

TODAY'S TREASURE

You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:3

Transcript

Worship Reflects Our Relationship to God

Chuck and Sharon Betters

Today’s Treasure

You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:3

Who or what we worship determines how we live. The Ten Commandments spell out very clearly God’s priorities for us. After reminding the Israelites of His past acts of love and mercy, God sets forth the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). This is the very bedrock of right worship.

God confronted the Israelites with a choice that offered no middle ground. Even when life is difficult, “you shall have no other gods before me.” When the writer of Hebrews showcases a man at worship as his first illustration of living by faith, he makes it clear that a man or woman of faith chooses to worship God when life is good and when it is not, when children are born healthy and when they are not, when careers are successful and when they are not, when families dwell together in peace and when conflict reigns. Such worship is possible only when it is based on a solid, exclusive, priority relationship with God above all others.

By commending Abel as a righteous man, God exposed the erroneous notion that righteous living guarantees us a long and prosperous life. Like Abel, our worship must focus on the character and eternal promises of God rather than on mere temporal blessings. Broken relationships and difficult circumstances are opportunities for us to experience deeper intimacy with our sovereign Creator.

When we know God in a personal, one-to-One relationship, we can trust Him. When we trust God, we worship Him.

Even when blessings slip through our fingers, or never come our way at all, we can worship God if we know Him intimately. Such worship may be different from the kind we observe in a church building on Sunday mornings. Personal worship can and should also occur in solitude, sometimes with tears of joy and gratitude and sometimes with quiet cries of anguish. Such relationship-driven worship can be found throughout the Psalms. In Psalm 73:1–4, for example, the writer describes his confusion and disappointment over the prosperity of unbelievers, prosperity that was in stark contrast to his own difficult circumstances. Instead of staying in the pit of despair, however, the writer goes on to contemplate God’s character and past faithfulness. The writer’s concluding remarks indicate renewed confidence in his relationship with God: “But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all Your deeds” (v. 28). Our confidence deepens as our relationship with Him matures. Worship, both together with others and when we’re alone with our Lord, builds that confidence, that faith.

LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT

By citing the example of Abel’s life and death, the writer of Hebrews urges these hurting, questioning believers to come boldly into the Lord’s presence and to get to know Him better (Hebrews 10:19–22), come what may. He wants them, in spite of their difficult and dangerous circumstances, to bring their questions, sorrows, and fears to God. The writer knows that time spent in God’s presence will in turn strengthen them so that they can indeed persevere, holding “unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful” (v. 23).

God is not afraid of our questions. The psalmists often began their songs with cries of doubt and anger, but after experiencing God’s presence through their worship, concluded these passages by expressing a joyful surrender to God’s ways and His perfect will. Their circumstances had not changed, but simply being in God’s presence had renewed their hope.

In our first week of devotions, we reflected on God’s patience with Habakkuk and his many questions. God did not reject him for asking such questions, and eventually Habakkuk surrendered to God’s answers. When we insist on understanding our circumstances or on clearing up our confusion before we come to God, we say, in essence, “I will worship and trust You only if I understand and approve of what You are doing.” Instead, the cry of our souls must be, “We believe, help our unbelief!”

Sometimes we enter God’s presence like angry children—accusing, bitter, fearful, shaking our fists in God’s face. “Why, why have you treated me like this?” But the Lord holds us, like a father holding a screaming, panicked child; He holds us tightly until at last we relax and our cries turn to quiet sobs, and He whispers to us gently, “I know this hurts. Trust Me, trust Me in this.”

After teaching on this subject, Sharon wept as a young mother told her this story:

“My husband and I just adopted a little Chinese girl. Her initial response to us was so positive. That is why we were shocked by her terrified cries when we arrived at our hotel. She could not speak English. We could not speak Chinese. We had no idea why she was so afraid. Finally, my husband concluded, ‘She thinks we are going to take her back to the orphanage.’ We held her tightly and, with tears that matched hers, we kept whispering in a language she could not understand, ‘We love you. You are not an orphan anymore. You are our daughter. A new family is waiting to love you. We have prepared a home for you. You are not an orphan anymore. You are our little girl. Trust us.’

In time, our new daughter relaxed in our arms. I often imagine God holding us tightly in His arms and whispering the same words when we are frightened by our circumstances. But, like our little girl, we don’t always understand His language or have eyes to see the place He has prepared for us.”

As this little girl learns more about her new mother and father and lives in the secure and loving home they have prepared for her, she will come to trust them and live like a daughter rather than an orphan. Similarly, in those times when our circumstances seem to contradict our understanding of God’s character, choosing to worship takes us into God’s presence and teaches us more about who He is and what He has prepared for us. Just knowing that God holds us tightly in His grip, even when we struggle to get away, creates a deepening appreciation of His love.

PRAYER

Father, when we are tempted to distrust You, keep holding us tightly, reminding us of Your faithful love.

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Adapted from Treasures of Faith by Chuck and Sharon Betters with permission from P&R Publishing

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