Kneeling in the Assembly, Part II

Psalm 146:8) The LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:

In the Kingdom of God, the way up is the way down; if you want to save your life, you must lose it; if you would be great, you must be the servant of all, and if you would receive glory, then you must humble yourself before the LORD.

As Paul taught, God delights to justify everyone whom He calls, and to glorify everyone whom He justifies. As strange as it may sound, we ought to crave the glory that God has promised to bestow upon those whom He has redeemed and is fitting for worship before His throne and service in His kingdom. We just need to be careful to crave this honor in the way, and through the means that He is pleased to give it.

And here, as always, Christ is our model and guide. For whatever God does to us, He does to us in Christ, who took the form of a servant and being made in the likeness of men, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And because the Son was pleased to humble himself, the Father was pleased to exalt him and to give him a name which is above every other name.

Therefore the true worship of Jehovah must include both an exaltation of His person and a heartfelt humbling and debasing of our own. If we insist upon clinging to our dignity, poise and self-respect, then we set ourselves against His purpose to glorify Himself by raising us up. But if we come before Him with our knees bent, our heads bowed and our hearts filled with the knowledge of our utter unworthiness, then He is pleased to glorify Himself by exalting us and adorning us with the beauty of holiness, and the comeliness of Christ’s righteousness.

According to the scriptures, fitting ways to humble ourselves in His presence include prayers of confession, bent knees, bowed heads, and a constant marvel at our invitation into the Lord’s household, expressed in the sort of hymns where we wonder aloud, “Why was I made to hear thy voice and enter while there’s room, when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve then come?”