WORSHIPPING GOD WITH UNREPENTANT HEART IV

“Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD”.

1 Samuel 15:30-31, KJV

This is the climax. It is all about face saving, how the people perceive him and not about the heart condition, not about God but about the people. It is dangerous to worship God with an unrepentant heart.

King Saul was disrobed, disgraced and eventually got possessed by an evil spirit. The situation was so bad that they had to look for a minstrel to be playing music for him to drive away the evil spirits. He ended up in the house of a witch because he was a witch. That is what happens to the rebellious. The Bible says the rebellious will dwell in dry places (Psa. 68:6). When Saul was in his right frame of mind, he banished witches from Israel but in his later life, he sought for a witch at Endor when his heavens closed up.

No self willed person can be a true worshipper of Jehovah. True worship begins by submitting your will to the will of the Father. The greatest worshipper was the Son of God himself, he said, let your will be done, not my will but your will. He said, my meat is to do the will of my Father (John 4:34). He was a consummate worshipper. That is why God has so highly exalted him and given him a name above every other name.

God desires truth in the inward man. God is a spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).

The paths of God are mercy and truth (Psa. 25:10). It was at the cross that mercy and truth met. The cross of our lord Jesus Christ is the greatest symbol of worship. It was at the cross that the will of man crossed with the will of God and the will of God prevailed. When His will crosses with your will, will you submit? That is the problem of man today. Without truth there cannot be true repentance. The prideful cannot truly repent. Truth must meet humility for there to be repentance. This is why a lot of people prolong issues in their lives. No true repentance, no honesty, no humility and they jump into asking God for things. They want a God they can send on errand, a God they can command at will. That God cannot be the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

There is a level of divine intervention you cannot experience until your obedience is complete. There is a level of intervention of God that no man can experience until you begin to relate with God as your Father, a Father who must be obeyed. In other words, you must relate with him as your Father whose will must prevail.

Truth does not rationalize unrighteousness neither does it condone it, rather, it judges it. You cannot be a truthful person and not be judgmental, No! It is part and parcel of it. A lot of people run away from pastors who judge sin and run to those who will eventually lead them to hell. The truth side of God judges and punishes sin. That was why he had to send his Son to die on the cross. This is no longer being emphasized. Salvation is not cheap, it cost God his best. It is free but not cheap. That is the wisdom of God.

PRAY –

• Everlasting and most merciful Father, I worship and adore you. Thank you for the greatest miracle; the miracle of salvation. I ask that you grant me the grace to live for you all the days of my life in Jesus’ name, amen.

TO BE CONTINUED.