Worship Through Obedience

BY Guest Writer

If we believe all of God’s Word is true, then we must receive even the hard things as being good for us. This means these words from the psalmist are true as well:

The precepts of the LORD are right,
making the heart glad;
the command of the LORD is radiant,
making the eyes light up.
–Psalm 19:8

The Lord’s commands are “radiant”—brilliant and beaming beacons of light in this world—and this verse tells us they are able to bring us joy. Those words are poetry, yes, but they are also true and applicable. So do we believe them in a practical sense? Do we experience joy from God’s commands? Do we feed and thrive on faithfulness and obedience to God as Daniel did?

For Daniel, there was no room for discussion about obedience. Even when he knew he’d be thrown into the lion’s den for worshiping the Lord, “three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before” (Daniel 6:10). Obedience and worship were a way of life for Daniel, a posture of his heart and indicative of his relationship with God, not just a response to crisis.

In giving our lives in obedience to the Lord, in doing “everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17), we ascribe worth to God, acknowledging that He alone is worthy of our worship, not only through our words but also through our actions. When we choose to live in accordance with God’s Word and His ways, we submit to His will and die to our own.

Living as an exile in Babylon most of his life, Daniel knew well that the earth was not his ultimate home, and he lived like it. He lived in obedience and continual service to his King, the Lord of heaven and of earth. Do we live like that? Do our lives look as radically obedient as Daniel’s life? Do the Lord’s commands bring light to our eyes or weight to our hearts? We know theoretically that God’s commands are for our good. But if we’re honest, we’re a wrecked, half-hearted people who worship so many other things with our lives.

But “the LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Psalm 103:8); He does not leave us to ourselves. While we were still lost to our sin, Jesus Christ came to save us from ourselves, humbling “himself by becoming obedient to the point of death” (Romans 5:8; Philippians 2:7–8). Even now, He is sanctifying us into a people who will worship Him with our whole heart and whole lives in obedience to Him (2 Corinthians 3:18). The One who calls us to obedience gives us everything we need to obey Him (2 Peter 1:3).

Kimberly Girard is a well-loved child of God, wife of an extraordinary man, mother of three amazing kids, and writer living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You can find her at Loud Singing and on Twitter.