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Prophets and Kings
Psalm 95:3-6
.
Both in public and in private worship it is our privilege to bow on
our knees before God when we offer our petitions to Him. Jesus, our
example, “kneeled down, and prayed.”
Luke 22:41
. Of His disciples it
is recorded that they, too, “kneeled down, and prayed.”
Acts 9:40
. Paul
declared, “I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 3:14
. In confessing before God the sins of Israel, Ezra knelt.
See
Ezra 9:5
. Daniel “kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and
prayed, and gave thanks before his God.”
Daniel 6:10
.
True reverence for God is inspired by a sense of His infinite great-
ness and a realization of His presence. With this sense of the Unseen,
every heart should be deeply impressed. The hour and place of prayer
are sacred, because God is there. And as reverence is manifested in
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attitude and demeanor, the feeling that inspires it will be deepened.
“Holy and reverend is His name,” the psalmist declares.
Psalm 111:9
.
Angels, when they speak that name, veil their faces. With what rev-
erence, then, should we, who are fallen and sinful, take it upon our
lips!
Well would it be for old and young to ponder those words of Scrip-
ture that show how the place marked by God’s special presence should
be regarded. “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet,” He commanded
Moses at the burning bush, “for the place whereon thou standest is
holy ground.”
Exodus 3:5
. Jacob, after beholding the vision of the
angel, exclaimed, “The Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.... This
is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Genesis 28:16, 17
.
In that which was said during the dedicatory services, Solomon
had sought to remove from the minds of those present the superstitions
in regard to the Creator, that had beclouded the minds of the heathen.
The God of heaven is not, like the gods of the heathen, confined to
temples made with hands; yet He would meet with His people by
His Spirit when they should assemble at the house dedicated to His
worship.
Centuries later Paul taught the same truth in the words: “God
that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of
heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is
worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, seeing