face down

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope your days are going well in the Lord. We are currently going through the Gospel of Mark on Sundays and studying 1 Corinthians during our Friday worship services. In addition to that, I personally spend time meditating on Scripture both in the morning and in the evening. Over the past several months, I have received tremendous grace and mercy from God while reading through the Book of Judges. Now, having finished Judges, I began reading the Book of Job today. Job was a man from the patriarchal period, much like the time of Abraham, and he is widely known as a symbol of suffering. That is why, when people name their children, names like Abraham, Paul, Daniel, David, or John are common, but very few people choose the name Job. The reason is because Job is portrayed as a man who endured immense suffering and pain.

As I read Job, many questions arise in my heart. If God is truly good, why is there so much evil in this world? Why do the righteous suffer while the wicked seem to prosper and live comfortably? Why did God allow Satan to test Job, even though Job feared and trusted Him so deeply? Was it really necessary for things to happen that way? These kinds of questions are called theodicy questions; questions about why an all-powerful and perfectly good God allows suffering in this world. To be honest, the Book of Job does not give us a simple and satisfying answer to these questions. Rather, as we read Job, we are forced to ask ourselves some difficult questions. Can I still trust God even in situations I do not understand? Can I continue to love Him even when blessings disappear? These are not easy questions, but deep within our hearts we must wrestle with them.

My beloved friends here at RockSpring Church, let me ask you a few questions. Why do you believe in God? Why do you come to church? Is it to receive blessings? To become happier? What is your true motivation for doing the things you do in the church? Why do you serve? Why do you sit and listen to sermons? Why do you raise your hands in praise? And what if… what if it seems as though those blessings are no longer being given? Will you stop believing in God? The Book of Job forces us to confront these questions honestly within ourselves.

After losing everything, we see Job returning to worship. He lost his children, his possessions, and everything he had. How devastating must that have been? Most of us would completely fall apart under such circumstances. Job was not emotionless. His heart was broken. He suffered deeply. Yet he returned once again to the place of worship. Remember this: he returned to the place of worship. The Hebrew word for “worship” is: שָׁחָה (shachah) It carries the idea of bowing down, falling prostrate, and kneeling face down in reverence before God. It is the act of kneeling so completely that your head, the most important part of your body touches the ground. Worship is surrendering ourselves completely before the sovereignty of God. Worship is confessing that my life does not belong to me. Worship is acknowledging that my possessions are not truly mine, that even my children are not mine, but that everything belongs to God.

Today, many churches have reduced worship into a mere format or structure gathering at a certain time in a certain place and calling that worship. This is what the Pharisees and religious leaders often did. Worship is not simply singing a few songs, listening to a sermon, taking notes about announcements or programs, and then going home. True worship is when our heads are bowed before God in complete humility, complete awe, complete reverence, complete fear of the LORD. It is the posture of a heart whose center is God Himself.

Even after losing everything, Job, though filled with sorrow, bowed down again, his head down completely on the ground. And he confessed that because God is the One who gives, he came into this world naked and empty-handed, and therefore nothing truly belonged to him. He recognized that he had only been a steward, temporarily entrusted with what God had given. So when God took it away, Job once again fell before Him in worship. When we see this, we cannot help but be amazed. Is this really possible? To lose everything… and still worship?

Many people attend church and say they are going to church. But why is it that some people become more stubborn the longer they attend church? Some pray fluently, yet become more religious and even spiritually hardened. Some read and study the Word, yet grow more arrogant and prideful. Why does this happen? It is evidence that our heads have not truly been bowed to the ground. It is evidence that we have never truly worshiped in a posture of kneeling and surrender before the great and mighty God. When you come to worship service here at RockSpring church, with what kind of attitude do you come with? Please Bow down. Bow down before God. Prostrate yourself completely before the Lord, fall to the ground on your knee and surrender to His sovereignty, confessing that you have done nothing on your own. I, first of all, as your spiritual leader, will strive to worship in this posture. I will continue to bow down, to let my head touch the ground, and to come before the great and majestic Mighty God in complete surrender. Please, join me in this journey.

Fall to the ground in humility,

Rev. Won Kim

Lead Pastor of RockSpring Church