Key Verse: Verse 4 - “And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:”
Key Words: that such abomination is wrought in Israel
In order to understand what false worship is we have to understand what true worship is. In Genesis 22:5 we read: “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you.” So based on Genesis 22, worship would at least include the following: obedience, separation, and sacrifice.
James Packer says the following in regard to worship:
“To worship God is to recognize his worth or worthiness, to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all appropriate ways the value of what we see. The Bible calls this activity ‘glorifying God’ or ‘giving glory to God,’ and views it as the ultimate end, and from one point of view, the whole duty of man (Psalm 29:2, 96:6; I Corinthians 10:31).
“Scripture views the glorifying of God as a six-fold activity: praising God for all that He is and all His achievements; thanking Him for His gifts and His goodness to us; asking Him to meet our own and others’ needs; offering Him our gifts, our service, and ourselves; learning of Him from His Word, read and preached, and obeying His voice; telling others of His worth, both by public confession and testimony to what He has done for us. Thus we might say that the basic formulas of worship are these: ‘Lord, you are wonderful’; ‘Thank you, Lord’; ‘Please, Lord’; ‘Take this, Lord’; ‘Yes, Lord’; and ‘Listen everybody!’
“This then is worship in its largest sense: petition as well as praise, preaching as well as prayer, hearing as well as speaking, actions as well as words, obeying as well as offering, loving people as well as loving God. However, the primary acts of worship are those that focus on God directly—and we must not imagine that work for God in the world is a substitute for direct fellowship with Him in praise and prayer and devotion.”
Which really brings us to the question: How often do we really worship God?
What to do:
✞ Truly dedicate yourself to worship God.
Are you Saved? | Get These Devotions By Email
