Only God Deserves Our Worship
Jun 18, 2008
Throughout the Bible, one consistent theme that can be found is God’s expectation for glory and worship from His people. When individuals took glory for themselves instead of giving it to God, they were punished. While we may have some degree of respect for the other people in our lives, God is the only one who deserves our worship. Accepting undue glory, and even seeking it, was a problem for many religious leaders during Jesus’ time on earth. Instead of seeking glory for themselves, religious leaders should be directing all of it towards God.
Moses was God’s chosen leader for the Israelites (Exodus 3:1-10). He was also very humble (Numbers 12:3). God even said of Moses, “He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings” (Numbers 12:7+8). Yet even Moses, who was so righteous and usually so humble, was punished for neglecting to give glory to God (Numbers 20:7-12). His punishment was that he would not be able to lead his people all the way into the Promised Land. Moving ahead to the time after Jesus’ death, King Herod was punished even more harshly for failure to give the glory to God. When the people of a country being supplied by Herod were trying to flatter him, they said, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” (Acts 12:20-22). The very next verse of Acts 12 says, “Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.”
God expects to receive glory from His people and also worship. God, and God alone, deserves to be worshipped. That is what Jesus told Satan when Satan tried to tempt Jesus into worshipping him. Jesus told him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (Matthew 4:10). The example of how Herod was struck down shows how serious it is for a leader to accept the worship that should be directed only to God. The Apostle Paul apparently understood this. When he healed a disabled man in Lystra, the people there became convinced he was a God and so they tried to worship him (Acts 14:8-13). He put a stop to it, and he did it with urgency. Acts 14:14 says that he “ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you…’” Men should not be worshipped and the same is even true of angels. On two separate occasions, John began to worship an angel and the angel stopped him. The first time he did it, the angel’s response was, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!” (Revelation 19:10). The angel’s response was almost exactly the same the second time (Revelation 22:9).
At one time in the Israelites’ history, they were being oppressed by the Midianites (Judges 6:1-6). When God saved them through a man named Gideon, they wanted him to become their ruler. He displayed a very good attitude in his rejection of their request. He said, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you” (Judges 8:23). Unfortunately, his good attitude did not carry over to many of the religious leaders of Jesus’ time. Jesus criticized them for their glory-seeking and He encouraged religious leaders to be humble and to defer to God (Matthew 23:1-12).
The Bible tells us that God alone deserves our worship. Let’s give the glory that He deserves only to Him and not to any human religious leaders, no matter how experienced, knowledgeable, or prestigious they may seem to be.
Moses was God’s chosen leader for the Israelites (Exodus 3:1-10). He was also very humble (Numbers 12:3). God even said of Moses, “He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings” (Numbers 12:7+8). Yet even Moses, who was so righteous and usually so humble, was punished for neglecting to give glory to God (Numbers 20:7-12). His punishment was that he would not be able to lead his people all the way into the Promised Land. Moving ahead to the time after Jesus’ death, King Herod was punished even more harshly for failure to give the glory to God. When the people of a country being supplied by Herod were trying to flatter him, they said, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” (Acts 12:20-22). The very next verse of Acts 12 says, “Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.”
God expects to receive glory from His people and also worship. God, and God alone, deserves to be worshipped. That is what Jesus told Satan when Satan tried to tempt Jesus into worshipping him. Jesus told him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (Matthew 4:10). The example of how Herod was struck down shows how serious it is for a leader to accept the worship that should be directed only to God. The Apostle Paul apparently understood this. When he healed a disabled man in Lystra, the people there became convinced he was a God and so they tried to worship him (Acts 14:8-13). He put a stop to it, and he did it with urgency. Acts 14:14 says that he “ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you…’” Men should not be worshipped and the same is even true of angels. On two separate occasions, John began to worship an angel and the angel stopped him. The first time he did it, the angel’s response was, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!” (Revelation 19:10). The angel’s response was almost exactly the same the second time (Revelation 22:9).
At one time in the Israelites’ history, they were being oppressed by the Midianites (Judges 6:1-6). When God saved them through a man named Gideon, they wanted him to become their ruler. He displayed a very good attitude in his rejection of their request. He said, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you” (Judges 8:23). Unfortunately, his good attitude did not carry over to many of the religious leaders of Jesus’ time. Jesus criticized them for their glory-seeking and He encouraged religious leaders to be humble and to defer to God (Matthew 23:1-12).
The Bible tells us that God alone deserves our worship. Let’s give the glory that He deserves only to Him and not to any human religious leaders, no matter how experienced, knowledgeable, or prestigious they may seem to be.