The people prepared from dawn until early morning…

The people…prepared from dawn until early morning, traveled from the town, and gathered.
…When Ezra praised the Lord, they raised their hands and sang "Amen,"
and bowed their faces to the ground in worship.
This is a scene of worshiping the Lord with their whole bodies.

This shows their yearning for the Lord!
…Worshiping with faces bowed to the ground
…In my Christian life, I have only prostrated myself in worship once!
…No…I did it because I thought something terrible would happen if I didn't😅
…Before the overwhelming presence of God…it was as if
God and I were facing each other...✨
✨…I was overwhelmed…😨
I hastily prostrated myself…
But even then, I felt proud,
I remember wanting to dig a hole in the ground with a shovel and crawl into it!
…Certainly…🤔
Praise and worship can sometimes excite us.

…However, just because you feel excited doesn't necessarily mean that the Lord is present.
If we truly encountered the Lord, I don't think we would be able to clap our hands and rejoice.

Facing a God so holy and divine…😨
Just like I was,
you would only be able to prostrate yourself as if you were dead (lol).
…When you have a truly awe-inspiring experience of God…
Your spiritual eyes are opened.
And…you will strive for worship that seeks the Lord's presence.
…
Shalom 😃

This page archives a Morning Word message shared by Pastor Peter Sunagawa on LINE. The English prose is a translation of the Japanese source message. For Scripture wording, use the BSB link above.