Sunday, December 30, 2007

Zephaniah 1:4-5 - Sincere worship

Scripture:

Zephaniah 1:4-5
4 "So I will stretch out My hand against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place,
And the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests.
5 "And those who bow down on the housetops to the host of heaven,
And those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom
NASU


Thoughts:

God is pronouncing judgment against the kingdom of Judah through the prophet Zephaniah.  This is in the time of the divided nation of Israel into "Israel" to the north and Judah to the south. 

The specific issues listed here are idolatry -- for example, worshiping Baal and the stars (v4-5a), a clear violation of the 1st commandment

Exodus 20:1-3
1 Then God spoke all these words, saying,
2 " I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 " You shall have no other gods before Me.
NASU

But also, those who worship Him, hypocritically (v5b).

When we spend time in worship, whether at a worship service or in our home or elsewhere, we generally think about what we want from worship.  We want to feel refreshed.  We want to connect with God in some meaningful way.  We may even focus on more basic things such as what style of music will accompany any singing we do, and what kinds of songs or what particular songs they will be.  But what about what God wants? 

Here we can see that He desires our worship of Him to be sincere.  He wants us to "put all of our stock" in Him, and not divide our hearts or hedge our bets. 

Milcom or Molech as he is also referred to, was the god of the Ammonite people.  Worship of him involved child burnt sacrifice, an abominable practice that God had long before denounced (Deuteronomy 18:9-12).  Those that were bowing to both God and Milcom were in a sense attempting to please both gods, though of course Milcom was not a true being, but an idol of men.  The idea would seem to have been to try and appease both so that whichever one actually panned out, you'd be good with.  But this thinking reflects that the person really doesn't believe in either god.  What an offense to God who had worked so powerfully in the nation of Israel.  He was and is the only living God!

Today, we too so easily find ourselves not believing in God.  We believe that He exists perhaps, but not that He is powerful.  He is creator of all, but not master over our problems. 

Having faith in God is hard at times.  Our circumstances can weigh down on us greatly.  But believing in Him is the only way we can ever truly worship Him as He desires.  And in doing so, we can bring joy to the heart of God (and peace to our own).  An amazing thought!


Prayer:

Lord, too often I am an example of faithlessness, rather than faithfulness.  Help me to believe all that You have said!  Help me to believe You are able, even over my circumstances.  Help me to get my focus off of my circumstances and on to You.

Thank You for Your forgiveness for my times of doubt.  You are so wonderful, it overwhelms me!

Amen

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.