While His Heart Clung to Faith

"Then He said, 'Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.' So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; And he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey; The lad and I will go yonder and worship and we will come back to you.'"
(Genesis 22:2-5)

"...the lad and I will go yonder and worship..."

I thought it was interesting that Abraham chose the word worship to describe what he was about to do. Only Abraham knew that he was taking Isaac to the mountaintop to offer him as a sacrifice, according to the Word of the Lord.

Can you imagine the turmoil stirring within Abraham? And yet, he set out to obey the Lord. While his heart clung to faith, he took one step at a time: saddle the donkey, prepare two servants and Isaac for the journey, split the wood for the burnt offering, go to the place God had told him - one step at a time.

All the while loving his boy.
All the while trusting his God.

When they arrived at Mr. Moriah, Abraham told his servants to "Stay here with the donkey; The lad and I will go yonder and worship..."

I looked up the word worship. The Hebrew word for worship used in this verse is shachah (shah-chah) which means "to bow, to stoop as an act of submission or reverence." Shachah is the opposite of worship in the form of exuberant praise. Abraham's form of worship was to submit to the authority of God - to bow before Him in obedience.

Take a moment and let this sink in. Abraham's heart must have been breaking, or at the very least heavy-laden. But he chose to obey his Lord. He chose to trust in the faithfulness of the One Who called him friend.

And God counted it as worship.

Wow, Lord! I think I can see clearly that obedience to You is the ultimate way of honoring You, of expressing worship. When we worship and praise with exuberance and joy, WE feel good, too. But, there is not any expression of WE in Abraham's example. His worship was all about You. It had everything to do with humility and submission and it had nothing to do with "feeling good." Wow. I am humbled as I think about this, Father. How many times have I entered into worship knowing that afterward I would feel better! Oh my goodness! Lord, You ARE worthy of praise. David danced before You in worship. He sang and played instruments and shouted! You desire that and You are honored by our worship and praise. No doubt. But, my goodness, You have shown me a deeper level of worship and I appreciate it. Thank You, Father.