The Audacity of worship
Judges 7:15, “When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the camp of Midian into your hands.”
When Gideon began his campaign against the Midianites he must have felt pretty good. He had at least 32,000 fighting men(Judges 7:3). He wasn’t a military leader, but I’m sure he felt pretty good with those numbers.
Then God stepped in, and He said I can’t work with these people because if I deliver Midian to this many people they’ll get all “puffed up” themselves, and forget about Me. Gideon you need to get rid of some of these people, so he lost 22,000 warriors. There was still 10,000 left, and I’m sure that Gideon still felt fairly confident.
Then God spoke to Gideon again, and I imagine Gideon was thinking, “What do you want, NOW.” God said you still have too many people let me do some more work; eventually the army that Gideon had fell to 300 people. I’m sure Gideon thought to himself, “what am I going to do with 300 people?” But God gave him confidence; the night before the battle he went to Midianites camp, and overheard them. When he heard the dreams of God giving him the camp he began to worship God.
Worshipping God is the only appropriate response we can have to His grace. When we come before a Holy God in worship several things happen. One we gain confidence in God, and with that confidence we are given strength from God. One of my favorite verses in the Bible tells how Peter and John gained confidence and strength from being with Jesus. Acts 4:13 says, “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”
When we worship God we are given a new perspective. We understand things more in the way God wants us too. When the first martyr, Stephen, was being stoned to death in Acts 7 he said in verse 60, “Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.”
Through worship we are also given a glimpse into the glories of heaven. In a few days I am leaving for Camp Hawkins in north Georgia. Every day while we worship God there with those great kids we see, if only temporarily, the greatness of God’s kingdom.
Worshipping God, whatever the circumstance may be, gives us access to the fulness of His grace, His confidence and His wisdom!!!
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Father God, I thank You for allowing me the privilege of worshipping You, and I ask that You would help keep me in a constant state of worship so I will have full access to Your grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen
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The image above can be found at:http://www.dunelandchurch.org/wp/worship/
Yes, You Can Ministry 