"Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;" ~ Psalm 95:6
In a play called "Slingshot" that tells the story of David and Goliath, there is a song that the character Samuel sings. Within its very moving lyrics, two specific lines often run through my mind. They are:
To stay near your God, you must stay near the ground. Never stand when you can kneel. Never sit when you can bow.
To stay near your God, you must stay near the fight. Never stop when you can charge. Never fear when you are right.
It's lyrics like these and certain scriptures I've read, like the one above, which move me to make sure there are times that I'm humbling myself before God with my body as well as my heart. Sometimes I find if my heart is slow to be humble that the position I'm praying in can help. I often take communion on my knees. I feel strongly that since I'm focusing on Jesus, his sacrifice for me, and his ultimate victory that it's very appropriate to humble myself in this way. It wasn't easy the first time I decided to get down on my knees when everyone else does not but I pushed past my pride because I knew God's Spirit was calling me to be humble. Now, this has become a very personal and public way to praise God. God's also blessed this into becoming a very private way for me to commune with him.
When I was a young girl, my dad use to come into my room each night and we would pray together. He'd always get beside the bed on his knees. How impacting that was and is now when I reflect back. This past New Years there was also a moment after worshiping God at the strike of midnight, where I literally fell to my knees to sing to God. I am convinced...I must kneel more before God in my times with him because I'm praying and worshiping the living God!
Here are some other verses I think of when I kneel or bow to God:
Phillippians 2:9-11
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Isaiah 45: 22-24
22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.24 They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are deliverance and strength.’”
Deuteronomy:33-2-3
“He [Moses] said: The LORD came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from his mountain slopes.3 Surely it is you who love the people; all the holy ones are in your hand. At your feet they all bow down, and from you receive instruction,"