Worship

 DEVOTION

2^ND SAMUEL

WORSHIP

2 Sam 15:7-15

7 At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, "Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the LORD. 8 While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: 'If the LORD takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.'" 9 The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he went to Hebron. 10 Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, "As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, 'Absalom is king in Hebron.'" 11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter. 12 While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, to come from Giloh, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom's following kept on increasing. 13 A messenger came and told David, "The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom." 4 Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, "Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin upon us and put the city to the sword." 15 The king's officials answered him, "Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses."

NIV

This story is unfolding regarding the conspiracy of Absalom to overtake the throne from his father, King David. However, there is a truth we should focus on from the heart of David. When Absalom asked the king to let him worship the LORD in Hebron, David was thrilled to hear his son wanted to worship the LORD. He told him to go in peace. It is always a good thing to want someone to worship the Lord. This should be our desire for others to want to worship the Lord. We must understand that attending church is good, but that does not imply worship. We can worship the Lord anywhere, any place, any time, for he is always with us. In fact, the Spirit dwells within us and He leads us in the way of righteousness, leading us to Jesus, and giving us this overwhelming desire to worship our Lord and Savior. Although Absalom was being deceptive as he asked to be allowed to worship in Hebron, we cannot be deceptive in our worship. That is, we cannot just go through the motions, especially when we are with others at church, so we look like we are worshiping, but our hearts are not in worship, but somewhere else. The second truth is that when David learns of the motive of Absalom, he is concerned about all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem. His heart was for his people, wanting to protect them from Absalom’s motive of taking over Jerusalem, and in the process, he would have killed anyone who followed David. This teaches us that we should always have a concern for the lives of others in our presence, which would include those who worship within the local church. When we think of protecting their lives, we think of their eternal lives, and that would include encouraging their faith, their walk with Jesus, and building them up so that we all have unity in the faith. Let us always look after one another in love, for love always protects, trusts, and hopes, and let us worship with our whole hearts in truth and in spirit.