A Worship Thought - Faithful Worshipers

By Kim Anthony Gentes
Saturday, August 16, 2003

Sometimes the price of worship is simply faithfulness. In
Daniel 3, the ultimate test of faithfulness was brought to
bear in the lives of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They
were told they must stop worshipping the Lord, and that they
must worship a golden image set up by the King of Babylon,
Nebuchadnezzar.

To signify the importance of when the people where to worship
the golden image, the king had the following done:

   Then the herald loudly proclaimed, "This is what you are
   commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every
   language:As soon as you hear the sound of the horn,
   flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music,
   you must fall down and worship the image of gold that
   King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall
   down and worship will immediately be thrown into a
   blazing furnace." Daniel 3:4-6
     

It is interesting to note that the decree was given in many
languages and nations, but that the one common factor to
drawing all of them to a call of worship (across cultures
and dialects) was the playing of music. Though music isn't
inherently worship (or vise-versa), music has always been
connected, both in meaning and practice, to worship. We
recognize that example of worship was wrong (we are
to worship no other Gods, but Yahweh).  Shouldn't those
that are worshipping the Almighty God be even more ready
to give ourselves in worship?

When you are worshipping the true and living God and you
hear the music play, do you fall down and worship? As we
celebrate in our corporate gatherings (in churches around
the world), let us remember to be faithful to worship from
the first sound of the music!

As we look at the faithful worshippers (Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego), we can see that these three worshippers were
not just oblivious to the king's edict (Daniel 3:4-6). They
had decided that they would worship God, alone! They were
finally confronted directly by the king (Daniel 3:14). But
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had already determined that
they would worship only the Lord God. After replying to the
king, they were thrown into the fire because they refused to
worship the golden image (Daniel 3:21).

When God rescued them from the power of the fire, everyone
was amazed! When the king saw God saved them, he realized he
had taken worship from the One True God. It is interesting
that the first thing he (the king) does, in response to what
had happened, was to praise God directly and humble himself
in worship to God.

   Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of
   Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and
   rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the
   king's command and were willing to give up their lives
   rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
      Daniel 3:28

As we encounter trials that would tempt us to take the easy
way out, and to turn our worship from God, may we have the
faithfulness to stand up and be worshippers of the Lord, even
in the face of death. We bless you, O Lord!

The above scripture is Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by
International Bible Society. All rights reserved.

The Worship Thought written and Copyright © 1998 by Kim Anthony
Gentes.

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