Jesus said in Matthew 15:7 – 9 that a person could worship with words but no heart. He said, quoting Isaiah 29:13, “This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

The disconnect of the mouth from the heart is a learned behavior. Around small children you quickly see the open connection of the mouth with the heart. They are naturally and innocently honest and will speak what their heart feels. They must learn from their parents not to say what they know is true. How strange. 

Our heavenly Father desires that we unlearn this kind of behavior especially in His presence. Heart-felt worship connects your mind and body with your new heart in Christ and expresses His life as yours. This pleases the Father because this is what He did through His Son for and to you!

From the Psalms you learn this kind of true worship. David set the standard for this kind of heart-felt worship and the other psalm-writers followed in his footsteps. He poured his heart out to God in worship because he knew that loving God was the only way to know the love of God. He also knew that God’s love was a steadfast love, a sacrificial love, an out-pouring love. He learned that with God you got His heart and that He only wants ours.

An example of this is seen in a very dramatic scene from David’s life, found in 1 Chronicles 11:15 – 19. It is a passage describing David’s mighty men, his trusted and loyal bodyguards. Their love and devotion to David reminded him of his towards God. The telling episode was a time when David’s enemies had taken control of Bethlehem, his hometown. David spoke the desire of his heart in 11:17 and said, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” The water from that particular well must have had more than a special taste for David. It was an expression of the deepest desire imaginable. This is what the Father is seeking as He searchers for true worshipers.

The story tells of how three of David’s mighty men fought their way through the Philistine garrison at Bethlehem, filled a skin of water from the well by the gate, fought their way out and brought it to David. They must have looked like a buzz saw of swords and knives risking their lives to please their king and leader, David. By the time they presented their gift to David, they must have been quite the sight of fatigue, blood (not all theirs), and their precious gift of water for David. What a sight the Lord Jesus Christ must have been to the Father as He was lifted up on the cross, presenting Himself to the Father for the deepest desire of the Father’s heart, our salvation!

David, overwhelmed with the sight of what he desired from his heart to present to God in worship, received their gift and then poured it out to the Lord in worship. His men had provided him with something of extreme value and worth, giving him the opportunity to express what was in his heart toward the Lord. These mighty men were students that day in the class of what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth, expressing from the heart the deepest desires of the heart.

As you worship the Father today, in spirit and truth from the Psalms, express to God your deepest desires. Pour out to Him what is in your heart because in Jesus Christ God did that very thing for you. It pleases the Father when He sees Himself coming from you to Him. This is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth.

 

 

©2015 Bubba Stahl.  Originally posted at http://bubbastahl.blogspot.com.