The Woman at the Well - Worship

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W orship

 

The dialogue now centres on WORSHIP. Pray tell, what in the world has worship got to do with drawing water? Much in every way. You see, WORSHIP DRAWS GOD. It not only draws God externally, it also draws Him INTERNALLY.

Psalm 68:1 LET GOD ARISE, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

Psalm 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Psalm 50:23  Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.

An alternative rendering to this verse is, "Whoso offereth praise and orders his conversation aright, MAKES A WAY FOR GOD TO WORK."

Nowhere in the Holy Scriptures can this principle be more readily seen than in the powerful illustration, of the magnificent king of Judah, Jehosophat.

2 Chronicles 20:20-30 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehosophat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that they should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went forth before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth forever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehosophat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days gathering the spoil, it was so much. And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehosophat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehosophat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.

The power of praise is classically illustrated in this section of Scripture. It must be remembered that the whole of Judah was completely surrounded by the opposing forces, yet in the words of the king, "O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee..." (verse 12)

Praise had indeed made a way for God to work.

Many of the great truths of God come in threes. Each successive application of the triune pattern is greater than its former. This is clearly seen in the teaching of the church, the house of God, in its three major stages of development, namely:

The Tabernacle (of Moses)

The Temple (of Solomon)

The Church (of the Lord Jesus Christ)