It has been said that the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. So this has led me to think that maybe praise and worship, although obviously aimed at venerating God, is really not necessary to God but rather it must be done for the benefit of man. If God is all knowing and all powerful then I imagine he would not need the praise and worship of mortal men. But because the path of the righteous man is beset by temptation and tyranny perhaps worship and praise are necessary tools to continually help man realign himself with righteous ways of thinking and acting. What do you all think? Do people give thanks and praise for God's sake or for their own sake?
I think it's a mixture of both, at best, and that's not a bad thing. Well, people are God as well, so yeah. Same difference.
Praise and worship in the context of the recognition of holy sabbath describes a profound sense of gratitude that comes from knowing that you "made it". It is the recognition that by all measure of truth, all that you need, or hope for has already been provided you. Where you imagined things were absent, you find relief in knowing they had not been missing after all.
It depends on the person. There are always going to be those who will worship for their own means to an end. For a politician or celebrity for example it is a very easy way to gain support by plastering billboards of themselves in prayer. These people though of course are not sincere in doing this. This, though, I do not believe is really worship. Real, whole-hearted worship is not done to benefit the person for anything. It is done in a humbling of themselves to the Lord.
"I desire steadfast love, not sacrifices" Hosea 6:6 Open praise and worship is an outward sign of what we carry in our hearts. If we just "sing the songs" then it is not with our hearts.
Yeah, Matthew has Jesus allude to Hosea here. Jesus does it all the time in Matthew. Hosea 6:6 continues: "the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings." The NIV even translated "steadfast love" as "mercy" in Hosea 6:6...
Jesus was quoted as saying go and learn what this means, I desire mercy not sacrifice. He did not give commentary as Hosea did. He was not quoting Hosea's context. He was suggesting that no ablation of any kind was required, suggesting mastery through love not through humble attrition.
It's God's will that we pray to him ultimately for our own sake. You put it well. "Worship and praise are necessary tools to continually help man realign himself with righteous ways of thinking and acting. We can't do much for God, but He can do plenty for us. The Confucian tradition includes elaborate rituals for the ancestral spirits. Yet Confucianists don't believe the ancestral spirits are able to know about the rituals. Taoists expressed puzzlement over this: lavish preparation for ceremonies and feasts to honor guests who will not come to the partry. Yet to Confucionists, the form of worship is important, even though the guest may no longer be around.
God does not need our praise and worship, no more than a father needs the love of his children but it would certainly make the father happy if his children did love him. But what about the children, wouldn't it be beneficial for children to love their parents? The Bible says we should honor our parents that it may go well with us, so likewise praise and worship directed toward God would be for our benefit.
I never said he did, nor is the "knowledge of god" bit a commentary. It is actually quite redundant. The context would be the destruction of the northern kingdom and Hosea marrying a prostitute to represent the relationship between God and Israel. Matthew's audience of Jewish Christians, most likely around the time of the expulsion from the synagogues, would likely have gotten Matthew's constant allusions to the Septuagint.
I was not making accusation but I do question, Why do you in your commentary, have Matthew alluding to Hosea for Jesus or Jesus alluding to Hosea? Why is it simply not Jesus said? Was it Hosea that sent Jesus out to speak? Didn't Jesus challenge some aspects of old testament authority as in, you have heard it said an eye for an eye, but I say love your enemies.
Okie, that is really interesting about the confucianists. It is very interesting that they believe that the spirits are not aware of the rituals. I started this thread because I have not believed in a higher power for a long time, but I feel somewhat empty now that I do not engage in any worship or rituals. I think I will look into this more, thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Because in Mark and Luke, Jesus does not say it at the same time. Mark and Luke may have just deemed it not relevant to the "agendas" in their gospels, or Matthew may have added it, knowing that his Jewish-Christian audience would have understood it as a reference to Hosea. Jesus in Matthew alludes to the Septuagint all the time. I am not denying that Jesus said this, I am just saying that Matthew has Jesus say it, whereas Mark and Luke do not. Yes Jesus challenged some of the Old Law (in fact he made them tougher in many regards), but in other regards he reaffirmed the Law.
I think we all start our spiritual journey as a means to an end- namely, avoiding Hell. Part of our journey is getting to the point where we follow Him out of absolute love, not out of fear of punishment.
