Old Testament Worship (Cont'd.)

Both the first and second places in the Old Testament where the word "worship" is used is in connection with sacrifice.

1. "Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye herewith the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you" (Genesis 24:5). It was the occasion when God asked Abraham to offer Isaac as an offering unto Him.

2. "The servant of Abraham received instructions to go to Mesopotamia to bring a wife for Isaac. The servant prayed unto God that a certain thing would be a sign to show him the proper woman. It happened just as he had asked that it should be. "And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not le destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren" (Genesis 24:26, 48, 52).
   In verse 48, the servant recounts the happening to the woman's father. In verses 50-52, after Laban told the servant "The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good Behold Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken." "... And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth."

   "At the dedication of the new temple (1 Kings 8 & 11; Chronicles 6), Solomon and all the congregation of Israel sacrificed offerings that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. In the same chapter is recorded the great prayer that Solomon offered to the Lord. "When Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good, and his mercy endureth for ever" (2 Chronicles 7:1-3).

   "Under good king Hezekiah, the house of God was cleansed and worship restored (2 Chronicles 29). They killed the sacrifices to make atonement for all Israel. "And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets...And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offerings were finished And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped."

   "Many of the Psalms were Psalms of worship and praise.

   "Job 1:20.

   "Nehemiah 8:6

Unacceptable Worship

When the people became sinful and continued their worship as an empty form, God rejected it and them until they repented.