To Have the Lord – Abiding Principles from the Ceremonial Laws: The Presence of God (1)

To Have the Lord

Abiding Principles from the Ceremonial Laws: The Presence of God (1)

Worship brings us into the presence of the living God.

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2, 3

God alone is able to prescribe the forms and practice of worship. He has designed worship as a meeting between Himself and His people, in which they gather before Him, according to His instructions, in order to be renewed in His Covenant. The ceremonial laws of the Old Testament were established to help Israel keep that relationship fresh and vibrant. For it was the privilege of the people of Israel, among all the nations and peoples of the world, to have the Lord God as their God.

The Hebrew language has an interesting way of expressing possessives, such as “have no other gods before me.” It does not use the verb, “have,” as in our translation, and as we do in expressing possession. Rather, the Hebrew says, quite literally, “Not there shall be to you….” This phrasing, I submit, is significant in helping us to understand what it means to “have” God as our God and, with that in mind, to abide by whatever statutes and precepts He prescribes for realizing the full benefit of that possession.

The use of the state of being verb—“shall be”—suggests a presence that exists with us, to us, perhaps even in which we have our being. God is not like some possession that we own. To “have” the Lord is not to possess Him for whatever our purposes may be, whenever and however we like. Rather, as His chosen people, we have the privilege of God’s presence with us at all times, in every situation, and without interruption. We do not always experience that presence, but that is not because He is not with us.

In addition, the phrase “to you”(pl.) uses what is called in Hebrew an “inseparable preposition.” That is, the preposition “to” is affixed to the pronoun “you” (pl.), making “to you” one word, in a way that dramatically illustrates the closeness and constancy of the presence of the Lord with His people.

The ceremonial laws were designed to remind the people of the presence of God with them and to provide ways and means of their being renewed in the experience of that presence.

In view of this, it’s no wonder God was so determined to keep all pagan influences and practices from finding their way into Israelite life or worship. Ancient pagan peoples “possessed” their gods in the forms of idols, which they flattered, adored, and, frankly, entertained in an effort to manipulate their false gods into doing something for them. God is always present with His people, and always doing for them, just as He had come to deliver them from Egypt. Worship helps us to realize the presence of God and to be renewed in it, and it gives us means to acknowledge the presence of God and His continuous care and blessing.

God wants us to “have” Him in the sense of knowing His presence continually, rejoicing in His provision and protection, acknowledging His greatness and goodness, and resting in the strength and constancy of His steadfast love. We need to consider whether this is in fact the sense in which we “have” God as our God today.

For a fuller study of the pattern of worship revealed in Scripture, order the book, The Highest Thing, by T. M. Moore, from our online store. These studies and brief essays will help you to see how the pattern of sound worship, which began in the Law of God, comes to complete expression in the rest of Scripture. Pastors, we’re getting ready to start the next season of The Pastors’ Fellowship. Write to me today at tmmoore@ailbe.org for information about how you join in these online discussions. Our theme for the coming series is “The Worldview of God’s Law.” There is no charge for participation, but you must reserve a place for these monthly gatherings. Subscribe to Crosfigell, the devotional newsletter of The Fellowship of Ailbe.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.