In Nehemiah chapter eight, we find one of the most dramatic events in the Old Testament. Decades earlier, the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah had proclaimed God’s word to God’s people, but the people resisted and rejected it. The result was the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and enslavement by the Babylonians and Persians. BUT now, with the city walls fortified and the Temple restored, only one thing remained. For the first time in one hundred years, a priest read God’s word to the people. They asked for it! Ezra stood before them from daybreak until noon reading God’s word aloud to the people. As he unrolled the scroll, the people stood out of respect for God’s word. As Ezra began to praise Yahweh, the people lifted their hands and shouted, “Amen, amen,” which in Hebrew means “truth, truth.” Then the people continued their worship of Yahweh God by bowing with their faces to the ground and humbling themselves before Him.
So, what is it like when you worship? How do you respond when you hear the words of God? Do you have a hunger to know His word better, to apply it and to obey it? Does your worship involve humility, praise, and submission? This Sunday, when you go to church, will you simply “be there” or will you be hungry for His word, eager to praise Him, and humbly submissive as His word applies to you?
