Israel had fallen because they chose to worship God their way. They had raised up novel places to sacrifice to God. But much like Cain, their way went against all that God had said. Remarkably like many religious institutions of our day. We will just compromise a little here and little there. What difference does it make? “We are worshipping God, just a little different way,” they would say. But that lead them farther and farther away from Genuine Worship of God. Then Judah, believing God would never abandon them, regardless of what they did, began doing whatever their heart desired. Even the priests and leaders believed they could do anything if they came occasionally to bring their sacrifices. But God was angered by this. So, what really must be at the core for there to be Genuine Worship of God.
Jeremiah 3:6-11 (NASB)
6 Then the Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there. 7 Yet I thought, ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also.
9 And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the Lord. 11 And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Genuine Worship Must Be of the Heart
When King Josiah returned the nation to assembling to listen to the law and to perform sacrifice, some did this as acts of Genuine Worship. Others joined the ceremony, but their heart was not one of law, awe, or genuine worship. These were actions to gain the favor or God, but not acts of genuine gratitude or love of God. For that reason, God declared their worship to be even worse than the faithless acts of the Northern Tribes.
Regarding Israel, God said,
But My people have exchanged their glory
For that which is of no benefit.
12 Be appalled at this, you heavens,
And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the Lord.
13 “For My people have committed two evils:
They have abandoned Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To carve out for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That do not hold water. Jeremiah 2: 11-13 (NASB)
They had turned away and worshipped other gods of their own making and those of the surrounding neighbors. But those in Jerusalem had continued worship in the Temple; but their hearts were not humbled before God. They falsely believed; God would forgive them everything. No one could take them down; because, God had chosen them.
No Signs of Genuine Worship
Ceremonial worship is not necessarily genuine worship. Unless the worshipper truly reveres the Glory and Majesty of God, they cannot truly worship Him. There must be some degree of fear, knowing He is Holy, Mighty and Sovereign Creator of All. Without that, one cannot come before Him honestly understanding the price that God has paid for our salvation. Genuine Worship can only happen if we remember who He is and who we are in relationship to Him. I can never forget that it was His amazing grace that reached out to save me. Only He could release me from the chains that held me.
Note, Ezekiel tells us that God’s spirit left the temple. After their exile, worship changed. And particularly by the time of Jesus, there were those who met to discuss the law—they met at the synagogue, where rabbis would teach the laws. This was quite different than the Ceremonies originally set forth, where the priests would read the laws before the people.
Jeremiah—an Example of Genuine Worship in Sorrow
Jeremiah suffered greatly because he was a messenger of God. For a moment I would have said of all the prophets, he suffered the most. However, when one considers the lives of all the true prophets, none were treated respectfully. They did have some converts at least. But Jeremiah had only his one friend, Baruch, who was his scribe. Furthermore, the nation did not repent. All his tears were in vain. His was a voice crying out in warning to the people. But no one would listen. He witnessed the burning of the city.
How lonely sits the city
That once had many people!
She has become like a widow
Who was once great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
Has become a forced laborer!
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has no one to comfort her
Among all her lovers. Lamentations 1: (NASB)
And he had suffered beatings, hunger, solitude, and hatred because of his being the voice God chose to speak. Furthermore, Jeremiah loved the people, weeping for their sorrow.
Genuine Worship that Obeys Even When It Hurts
My eyes fail because of tears,
My spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is poured out on the earth
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
When little ones and infants languish
In the streets of the city. Lamentations 2 NASB
In all of this, Jeremiah did as God commanded. He became a bond servant for God, presenting himself truly as a living sacrifice. That is one act of genuine worship. Much as Paul tells us in Romans 12:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect. Romans 12 (NASB)
Trusting and Praising God No Matter What: Another Act of Genuine Worship
I am the man who has seen misery
Lamentations 3 (NASB)
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2 He has driven me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3 Indeed, He has turned His hand against me
Repeatedly all the day.
4 He has consumed my flesh and my skin,
He has broken my bones.
5 He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me live in dark places,
Like those who have long been dead.
7 He has walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my chain heavy.
8 Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
In fact, God at one point told Jeremiah not to pray for the salvation of Judah.
Lamentations 3 (NASB)
9 He has blocked my ways with cut stone;
He has twisted my paths.
10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11 He has made my ways deviate and torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He bent His bow
And took aim at me as a target for the arrow.
13 He made the arrows of His quiver
Enter my inward parts.
There were times he was left at the bottom of a pit where a loaf of bread was thrown down every day.
Lamentations 3 (NASB)
14 I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
Their song of ridicule all the day.
15 He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink plenty of wormwood.
16 He has also made my teeth grind with gravel;
He has made me cower in the dust.
17 My soul has been excluded from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.
18 So I say, “My strength has failed,
And so has my hope from the Lord.”
Despite all this, Jeremiah continued to do all God said
And Jeremiah’s reason to press on?
21 I recall this to my mind,
Lamentations 3 (NASB)
Therefore I wait.
22 The Lord’s acts of mercy indeed do not end,
For His compassions do not fail.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I wait for Him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who await Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
26 It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
Genuine Worship Sees God Above All Else- As Paul Wrote
8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3 (NASB)
Elements of Genuine Worship in Pain
Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world. . .
“No doubt Pain as God’s megaphone is a terrible instrument; it may lead to final and unrepented rebellion. But it gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. It removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul.1
C.S. Lewis
But are we not all rebel souls in a sense? So, if it is pain that brings me closer to Jesus, how should I look at the pain? Just thinking aloud. Certainly, as we have studied the Old Testament and I dare say the New as well, Suffering gives us the greatest opportunity for genuine worship. That is where we become more like Christ. The greatest joy is when all else fades away in comparison to knowing Him. It is trusting Him in the storm, knowing He knew me before I was ever born and loved me enough to give His life to save mine. This world is not my final home and is a split second in time compared to eternity.
1 C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: HarperCollins, 1940/1996), 91.
DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD? He is our only Hope in Life and Death! Our Joy is found in Him.
Therefore if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you today. Go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link. There is nothing more important than this; because He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.
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DISCLOSURES
©Effie Darlene Barba, 2023Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. Furthermore, I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Credits
New King James Version (NKJV)Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible (NASB)New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: HarperCollins, 1940/1996), 91.
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