Humble Worship: Because God Has Grasped Us

Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you." (I Chronicles 29: 10-14, ESV)

Recently, our pastor taught on I Chron. 29:10-14, and King David’s recognition of, and glorying in, God’s complete sovereignty and Lordship over all – a recognition of which should lead us to humble worship. He spoke of David’s “theologically driven” prayer. That as David was seeking to honor and glorify God, his theology was affecting his heart; and, as a result, it was because of his theology that David gave generously and worshiped passionately. And so should it be with us – that the result of our theology should be the promotion and lifestyle of humility.

So, what should be the result of our commitment to, belief in, and teaching of the truth of God’s sovereignty? Well, looking at David, it wasn’t to gather a team together and raise the banner of Reformed Theology and declare, “We’re right, and you’re wrong!” Rather, the Doctrine of God – of His sovereignty – should put our face to the ground, and we should say, “You rule, You reign, You are king, and all glory is Yours and Yours alone!"

Our pastor went on to say something that hit me rather hard:

“It’s the ultimate tragedy that anyone who believes in the sovereignty of God would argue it and draw attention to themselves such that it’s ‘glory to me, I’m right, you’re wrong, I got the truth and you don’t.’ It’s an absurd reality to be arrogant about having a Biblical view of sovereignty. Those that have a Biblical view of sovereignty (which I believe is Reformed Theology) should be lowly and meek and humble in their grasp of truth. Because God has grasped us.”

He concluded this portion of his message by noting that a proper recognition of God’s rulership over all has practical applications about our stewardship, our speech and our worship of God. Looking at David, his theology was not just in his head, but was in his heart, his emotions, his passion, and in how he responded to God. David’s vision, as should be ours, was God-saturated. So, when God is big, glorious, majestic, holy and exalted in our lives, how can we possibly exalt or glorify ourselves?!

Good question, and good stuff, pastor!