1. Hebrew Worship: God Came • by Arthur Burk • Sapphire Leadership Group, LLC • www.TheSLG.com • 1

1. Hebrew Worship: God CameOur project of battling the Egyptian Curse and bringing in the Egyptian Blessing over the SLG tribe is far from over. We had some strong initial successes but then the enemy unleashed some counter strategies, and our warfare prayers have not had as much power lately. They have tended a bit toward information and petition, not power.

With that in mind, we are changing our tactic as well and focusing on how God taught the spiritually illiterate Hebrews how to worship Him. Each of these blessings will be very personal from my life. I encourage you to take the time to dig in and dress up the concepts with real life experiences from your own journey.

The beginning point for the journey toward skilled and variegated worship was the burning bush. And the core point here is that God came to Moses, on his turf, without Moses specifically asking.

The God Who Responds is emotionally immense for us. The Hebrews in the brickyards were crying out to God for intervention. The evidence is that Moses felt himself somewhat alienated from the God of his fathers, and consigned to simply exist – surviving without thriving in the wilderness.

Against that backdrop, the God Who Initiates is a monumental object of our worship. Imagine world history if God had waited for Moses to ask Him to come explore Moses’ apparently lost birthright!

Historically there are a few examples that touch me emotionally in a very deep place. I suggest you explore your own Biblical Hall of Fame and draw out the stories that dance and sparkle for you. These are mine and while I try to be contagious for those who have no spark, if you already have a hot spot for the God Who Initiates, by all means use your own stories.

-Pre-creation. And the earth was without form and void . . . Into THAT ugliness, God came. He didn’t send an angel. He didn’t look from heaven. He came. He moves toward brokenness with fierce in-tentionality. Before He made anything beautiful, He came and savored the full awfulness of the awful.

God came! I can worship on THAT theme.

-Abram had lived carefully as a Giver who was a resident alien in the land, with no civil rights and no standing army. When Lot got himself in trouble, Abram rescued him and, in the process, disrupted the equilibrium he had created. He now had a price on his head and some serious enemies among the neighboring kings. Next spring, there would be trouble.

1. Hebrew Worship: God Came • by Arthur Burk • Sapphire Leadership Group, LLC • www.TheSLG.com • 2

But Abram was a man’s man, and he didn’t spread his pain around. For sure, he didn’t go bother The Almighty with his problems. However, God knew he was stewing over the problem, so in Genesis 15 God came to him, with no context and said, “I’ve got your back, Son.”

That lands so deeply with me. I am not much into whining either. But there are times when The Al-mighty puts on His Father cloak and brings me the hug I so needed but hadn’t asked for.

God came! I can worship on THAT theme.

-David messed up with Bathsheba. There was drama, drama, drama. It was quite clear that God was working with David in the midst of the mess and during the years thereafter, but I would think, if I were David, the issues of wife, sex, babies and such would be uncomfortable spots for David to chat with God about. You see endless Psalms about every personal aspect of David’s life. Unlike Abram and me, he had no qualms about involving God in his messy journey. He’d ask for a hug at the drop of a hat.

But you don’t see any songs about his challenges in rebuilding his family life. Every other problem, yes, but not that one. How do you go to God and ask for coaching on your marriage issues after an affair of that magnitude? The awkwardness lasted a number of years. David and Bathsheba had three more boys in the context of uncomfortable silence with God.

So . . . since he would not go to God, God came to him. When his son Solomon was born, God sent the prophet to say, “I LOVE that kid! Can I come to the party?” 2 Samuel 12:24ff.

I know what it is to know I am forgiven, but to feel uncomfortable discussing the long term reality of my past sin. In that place, I have had God come to me to break the ice and open dialog about relation-ship in the very place of sin.

I can worship THAT God.

-Jesus grew up in Nazareth, but it was clear that this was not the best place for ministry headquarters. He looked around and went very intentionally to Capernaum because it was the darkest place around and had the most deeply rooted powerlessness. So cool. It was not about Him and His comfort, or His platform, or His preferences. He made a beeline for darkness and put on a light show for the ages.

I can worship THAT God.

I welcome you into my private worship celebration of the God who comes!

1. Hebrew Worship: God Came

Copyright September 2015 by Arthur Burk