Worship is Key + ”Worship From the Depths”
Worship From the Depths.
Last night, during worship, I was doing my best to worship. Feeling distracted. Feeling like I had nothing to offer, though I had so longed to “break my box” on Jesus. Feeling like dust.
As I was talking to Jesus and giving my “two mites” of worship, a mashup of stories started coming into my mind, along with the words, “Out of the DEPTHS have I cried unto thee, O LORD.”
God still receives worship from deep places; from weary souls; from those whose circumstances haven’t unfolded as they’d hoped or planned or assumed.
Job came to mind. Before God spoke the words, “Have you considered my servant Job?” Behind the scenes, Job was a man of wealth and prestige. He was a man of means and was “at ease” in his own words. (Job 16:12) His life was marked by what we would consider blessing, until a divinely inspired trial shatters his serenity. And in the wake of utter devastation, some of the most extreme loss anyone could ever imagine, we still see that worship is a possibility. We hear the desperate worship of a gutted, heart-broken man rising from the rubble: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21) “Blessed” here (according to BDB via BLB) means “adored.” Job sits in the depths of grief and worships and adores God. He refuses to curse. He refuses to blame God. This is worship from the DEPTHS.
David came to mind. Before 2 Samuel, where we read a little phrase, “It came to pass in an eveningtide,” we see David to be a man of flawless, impeccable character. A man of faith and courage. A man who has refused to take the promised throne outside of God’s timing and has refused to “lift up his hand” against even the most cruel of leaders. Before that evening, we see a man of worship and clean hands. But in that eveningtide, when he should have been at war, David’s life was turned upside down…his world was rocked…his untarnished past shattered. His decisions of that evening result in his beautiful, married neighbor pregnant with his child. This news sets a chain reaction in place. An attempt to cover up ends in murder disguised as a war casualty. We all know the story. Almost everyone in human history knows the failure and scandal surrounding the name: Bathsheba. David and Bathsheba are married. Nathan “calls David out” on his sin, his degradation, and pronounces consequences on David’s family, future, and legacy. The child yet in utero? It will die. (2Samuel 12:14) Its little frame didn’t ask to be brought into this world, and yet, its little frame will face the consequences of a father’s sin. “And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.” (2Samuel 12:15) And David fasts and pleads with God to change His mind: this little baby could be the silver lining in all the depravity of this egregious failure. He fasts and prays for 7 days to no avail. His prayers do not change God’s mind, they go unanswered. David’s servants expect him to lose his mind…they have seen the unmatched grief of the last week, and they assume this loss will push David over the edge. Yet, we see that worship can still ascend out of this season of illicit behavior, of unimaginable consequences, and unanswered prayers. David’s failure and its ripple effect did not change the worthiness of God. When David hears the final answer: “The child is dead,” “Then David arose from the earth, and washed and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD and worshipped.”
This is worship from the DEPTHS.
The woman with the alabaster box came to mind. Each Gospel writer includes a story of a woman with an alabaster box worshipping Jesus…I’m pretty convinced there are 2 different women, and Luke’s version is the one that made its way into my thoughts on Sunday. He starts off by saying, “And behold a woman in the city, which was a sinner…” This was not a “saint” in the Jerusalem temple. Unlike David, she was not a “good person” who made a “bad decision.” She was a sinner. Luke makes no attempt to sugar-coat her reputation, her lifestyle, or her identity. Luke just states it like it is: she’s a sinner. She is a woman with a past, a woman with a reputation, but she is also a woman with a present. She is currently a sinner. At very least, she’s not far from a sordid past. But “when she knew that Jesus was at meat at the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping, and began to wash His feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment.” (Luke 7:37-38) She pours out worship from the DEPTHS. She walked past her shame, her history; past the crowd, and past what they thought of her, and she worshipped. She poured out her best and most beautiful on the One she knew was worthy. The One who was worth it. The “religious” host thought what “religious” folks think: “Who does she think she is?” “This man, if He were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches Him, for she is a sinner.” Religious people assume that other’s pasts and other’s reputations disqualify them from present worship. But Jesus hears his thoughts, and shares a story that reveals a simple, but powerful truth: “Those who recognize they’ve been forgiven most will love most.” (Luke 7:40-43) “And He turned to the woman and said unto Simon, ‘Seest thou this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet: but she has washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. You gave me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment.’” (Luke 7:44-46) Jesus elevates this woman’s actions above the hospitality of this “righteous host.” He shows Simon that He’s not looking for people who “have it all together”, or people who “look the part,” but He’s looking for people who will pour out all they have, and all they are, with humble realization that they are not the solution for themselves. He’s looking for those who will say, “I’m nothing and You’re everything.” “My religion isn’t sufficient to satisfy Jesus.” The sacrifices of God are still “a broken spirit and a contrite heart.” (Psalm 51) He will never despise these. No past, no history, no failure, or reputation that defines as “a sinner” can stop “worship from deep places.” Jesus continues on: “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” (Luke 7:47)
I want to stop here for a quick minute. I personally believe we’re ALL forgiven much. Whether our sin is as appalling and notorious as this woman’s or as subtle and insidious as Simon’s—self-reliance, self-satisfaction, complacency and judgementalism—We all have much to be forgiven of. It is not where our sin falls on the “bad scale,” but, rather, our realization of our desperate need for Him. Ok. Sidenote. :)
After her deep worship, and after talking about her, Jesus, defying cultural norms and cultural protocol, turns to her, and says, “Your sins are forgiven…your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:48-50) We cannot overestimate the power of worship from the DEPTHS.
Paul & Silas came to mind. Paul & Silas are traveling for the Gospel…on a mission’s trip. While Paul and Silas are at Phillippi, Paul casts a demon out of a young girl, and is accused of “exceedingly troubling the city.” The Philippian authorities command them to be “beaten”, which they are with many stripes. They are then cast into the inner prison and their feet are placed in stocks. Likely, their bodies are wracked with pain. But pain and imprisonment could not stop praise: “At midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them…” In the face of brutal persecution, which had potential to end in death, they belted out praise to the One who is always good. Their trust allowed them to sing from a prison cell. And we see that their worship from the DEPTHS became the key for both their release and other’s salvation. “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and, immediately, all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bands were loosed.” (Acts 16:26) The attack from Roman enemies that had seen them as prisoners just hours ago, now found them baptizing the Philippian jailer and his family. (16:33) Their bold, blatant, fearless worship in the face of hostility and adversity, their “worship from the depths,” was for “the furtherance of the gospel.” (Philippians 1:12)
This is worship from the DEPTHS.
Those were the 4 stories that initially came to mind: Job. David. The woman with the alabaster box. Paul & Silas. Then, yesterday, I just so happened to open my Bible to 1 Chronicles 21, which is another “David” story, but seems like it should be included in this “thought.”
The chapter opens by saying “Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.” David tells Joab and the other rulers to number the people, Joab tries to talk him out of it, but “the king’s word prevailed.” They count, report back to David, and “God was displeased with this thing; therefore, he smote Israel.” (21:7) The abbreviated version of the story is that David sees his error and tells God, “I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now I beseech thee do away with the iniquity of Thy servant: for I have done very foolishly.” (v. 8) God sends a prophet with “options” for discipline, all of which will greatly affect the entire nation he has been called to rule. David makes a statement, which I believe is a key statement of his life: “I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are His mercies; but let me not fall into the hand of man.” (21:13) “So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel 70,000 men…” Seventy thousand people are dead because David made a decision, which was against the advice of his top leadership. (That’s not the reason for the consequence, just salt on the wound.) The LORD repents of the evil (v.15) and tells the angel who is executing judgement to stop. David sees the angel with his sword drawn (v.16) “And David said to God, ‘Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? Let Thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.” (v.17) David begs God to punish him and not the people of Israel, but 70,000 lives are already lost, which means countless more lives affected. This is massive casualties, massive consequence. And the Angel gives instructions to the prophet to tell David to make as altar to the LORD in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. (v.18) David approaches the owner and asks if he can buy the land. (21-22) Ornan offers to give it to him along with oxen and wheat for sacrifices and his tools to use for wood for the offerings. He says, “I give it all.” (v. 23) But David, even at this incredibly low point of his life, says, “No…but I will verily buy it for the FULL PRICE; for I will not take that which is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offering without cost.” (v. 24) “So David paid 600 pieces of gold for what could have been his for free. “And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD…” (v.26) From the depths, before God answered him, with catastrophic casualties littering the landscape due to HIS decision, David offers expensive sacrifice, expensive worship. The LORD “answered” David’s obedient sacrifice with fire and instructs the angel to put his sword into its sheath. This is worship from the DEPTHS.
And, in an interesting note, the next chapter opens with David saying, “This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel. This place of sacrifice from DEPTHS becomes the appointed place for the temple, the House of God that Solomon, David’s son, would later build.
“Depths” come in many forms. Here are exemplified loss, grief, failure, sin, reputation, persecution, adversity, and extreme consequence. And here is exemplified one simple point: worship is always possible. It is possible from any season; from any circumstance; from any scenario. We can worship, even from DEPTHS…
“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD…” Psalm 130:1
No greatness of DEPTH changes his worthiness. No DEPTH diminishes his goodness…weakens his faithfulness. No low alters HIS trustworthiness or tarnishes His character. Cry to Him from deep places. Worship from the DEPTHS.
Thank you for joining me for this journey!
Go grab your Bible and your journal!
I look forward to the power of this habit in your life. This is Unedited.