“Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy” (Psalm 99:9).
What does it mean to “exalt” God? To exalt means to raise Him high, to make Him appear great in the eyes of others, to honor Him. What does “worship” mean? The Hebrew word for worship literally means a certain posture of the body that expresses humility or obedience. In other places in the Bible, this word is used to mean “bow down,” “crouch,” “stoop,” or even “fall down flat.” Do you see the contrast in those two words—“exalt” and “worship”? God is supposed to be high, and we, His worshipers, are supposed to be low.
God deserves to be honored because He is holy—absolutely pure and sinless. When we worship Him, we need to remember that we are not like Him. If it were not for His gracious gift of Jesus Christ, sinners like us would have no business coming anywhere near Him. We would have no right to talk to Him or ask Him for anything. It is only because of His great love and grace that He has chosen to pardon sinful people.
Our holy God deserves to be worshiped, but He deserves to be worshiped in a certain way. We must not come to Him thinking that our wishes, our problems, and ourselves are the most important things. We must come realizing that He is most important. We should come to Him humbly, knowing that we need His mercy more than anything else. We should come thanking Him that He is so loving and willing to grant that mercy. When we worship Him, we should make ourselves low and make Him high.
We should worship our holy God with humility and thankfulness.
My Response:
» When I go to church or have my personal quiet time, am I truly worshiping God?
» Which do I think of as more important—God or myself?