Being Controlled by the Word of God, we Worship God by Eating and Rejoicing before Him

We need to be instructed, governed, ruled, and controlled by the word of God, and we need to learn to enjoy the Lord with the saints in God’s presence in the unique place of His choice, which is our worship to Him.

In Deuteronomy we see God’s work spoken through Moses, and in particular we see aspects of the church life under the government of God.

There are many statutes and ordinances, and if we want to count them, they are quite a lot of them – sometimes one verse is a statute.

God cares about all the aspects of our life and our daily living, and in Deuteronomy we see how He has a statute concerning how to treat the mother bird with the little baby birds.

He has something to say concerning producing animals, those animals that plough and thresh the grain; there’s a statute about these animals!

In all these details in Deuteronomy – in the statutes and ordinances – we have a window into who God is, how sweet, tender, humane, merciful, and gracious He is.

We must be saturated with God’s holy word, breathe in the breathed out word of God, and minister in the church as God would do.

God has an ordinance concerning our holy diet, the worship of God, having no mixture of idolatry, keeping a vow to Jehovah, the release of the slaves, lending to poor brothers, caring for escaped slaves, the wages given to the poor hired servant, remembering the sojourner, how to deal with a murderer, a stubborn and rebellious son, divorce, kidnapping, fathers and children, disputes in God’s people, weights and measures, immorality and many other things.

He unveils Himself by dealing with all the aspects of our human life and speaking concerning the details of our living; we shouldn’t think there’s an aspect of our life that has nothing to do with God’s government, for He has a detailed government on virtually everything.

When we read the book of Deuteronomy we are reminded of the constitution of the kingdom in Matt. 5-7, which we can consider almost the New Testament version of the law and ordinances.

If we read this New Testament constitution given by the Lord, we realize that it speaks of the nature of the kingdom people, their behavior, their relationships, their righteous deeds, dealing with others, the ground of their living and work, the material riches, and the law of the kingdom people.

These are almost like a mirror of what Moses uttered in Deuteronomy; all the ceremonial and ritualistic parts of the law are over, but the moral law is not over but rather it was uplifted by Christ.

So we do well to give heed to God’s word, breathe it in, be infused with what God is, and be governed and controlled by the word of God in our daily living to be the people living under the government of God.

Being Filled and Saturated with God’s word to be Governed and Controlled by the Word of God

In Deut. 17:14-20 we see the ordinance concerning a king, when the children of Israel would set up a king over themselves.

First of all, God Himself was their King, so for His people to want a king meant that they wanted someone to replace God.

God as our King should never be replaced and cannot be replaced; however, the children of Israel wanted a king, and though it was offensive to God (1 Sam. 8:4-22), God gave them a king – Saul – according to their choice.

Saul was not a good king, for he was not according to God’s heart.

Later God exercised His own choice and raised up David, a man after God’s heart, to rule over the people of God; David was not only a king according to God’s preference but also according to His heart (1 Sam. 13:14), and he was the most pleasant king in God’s sight.

The ordinance in Deut. 17:18 clearly says that the king was to write out for himself a copy of the law in a book, out of that which was before the Levitical priests.

He was to write the law as a copy for himself and read in the law all the days of his life, so that he might learn to fear Jehovah his God by keeping all the words of the law (v. 19).

Before the king could rule over the people, he himself had to be saturated and filled with the word of God, so that he would be governed and controlled by the word of God.

Only when the king is ruled and controlled by the word of God could he be a proper king and rule over God’s people.

A proper king among the children of Israel was one who was instructed, governed, ruled, and controlled by the word of God. The principle should be the same in the churches today (Acts 13:1-4).

On one hand the elders need to be saturated, filled, and soaked with the word of God so that they would be instructed, governed, ruled, and controlled by the word of God.

On the other hand we all as believers in Christ and pursuers of the Lord, we need to allow the word of God to dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16) in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our heart to the Lord.

We need to be constituted with the word of God by spending time with the Lord in His word; we can read the Bible by having a schedule of daily Bible reading, and we can read it by praying over the word of God to breathe in the breathed out word of God.

When we are constituted with God’s word, when we spend time with the Lord in His word and inhale God in His word, we will be governed by the Lord through His word, and our living will be controlled by the word of God.

The result of our enjoying the Lord in His word is that we will be under God’s government, under God’s control; spontaneously, God will be in all our decisions, and we will express Him and represent Him.

In order for the elders to administrate the church, they must be constituted with the word of God; as a result, they will be under God’s government, and God will be expressed and represented through them.

How can the elders properly manage and administrate the church if they don’t read the Bible?

How can they lead the saints if they don’t get into the word of God to be saturated with the word and be controlled by the word of God?

Similarly, we as saints in the church life are under the government of God and can express and represent Him when we are saturated and are constituted with God’s word, and when the word of God governs us and rules us.

Lord Jesus, we want to be saturated and filled with Your word so that Your word would instruct us, govern us, rule us, and control us in our daily living. We let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, and we come to You in Your word again and again. Speak to us, Lord, and constitute us with Your word daily so that we may be governed and controlled by the word of God. May we and all the saints be under God’s government, rule, and control as we daily spend time in the word of God to be constituted with the Word and allow the word to rule and govern us!

Worshipping God at the Unique Place of His Choice by Eating and Rejoicing before the Lord

The first of the many aspects of the church life under the government of God as seen in Deuteronomy is the worship of God at the unique place of His choice by eating and rejoicing before the Lord.

In exercising His government, God required the children of Israel to worship Him in the unique place – Jerusalem, the worship center chosen by Him; they didn’t have any right to select the place according to their concept (Deut. 12:1-12).

Only the place where God put His name could there be the worship center of His people; so God’s people were to come to Mount Zion, the unique place chosen by God for corporate worship.

Such a unique place of worship was chosen by God for the purpose of keeping the oneness of His people (Psa. 133:1).

This is an example of the church life under God’s government; in such a church life we have no right to “start our own meeting according to our choice” but rather, we must go to the church meetings in the place of God’s choice.

In our living the church life under the government of God we need to be controlled by the word of God which saturates us; therefore, we can meet only in the mingled spirit, in the name of the Lord, in oneness with the saints, and through the cross.

What then should we do when we meet together? What should the children of Israel do when they come together to worship God?

According to our natural concept we need to bow down and worship God, keep quiet in His presence, and worship God by doing this or that sacrifice for Him.

But God’s thought is different; He didn’t ordain that we would “bow down before Him” and pray in silence, covering our head (like the Muslims do) and being sombre before Him.

Rather, He wants us to eat before the Lord and rejoice.

Our worship of God should be by eating and rejoicing before the Lord, by eating the Lord and with the saints, and rejoicing in the Lord and with the saints in God’s presence.

The worship that God desires is not a matter of kneeling, bowing, or prostrating ourselves; to worship is to eat before the Lord and rejoice with the saints.

It is such a joy to come together and worship God in the way He ordained and at the place of His choice, for God wants us to eat and rejoice before Him!

Have you ever thought that this is the kind of worship that God desires?

We need to daily labour on Christ, enjoy Christ, eat Christ in His word, and be governed and controlled by the word of God; then, when we come together in spirit and in the Lord’s name, we need to eat before God of this rich Christ and rejoice with the saints. Hallelujah!

Lord Jesus, we come to the place You have ordained for us to meet – the genuine ground of oneness – so that we may eat and rejoice with the saints in Your presence! Amen, Lord Jesus, we put our preferences, natural concepts, and religious thoughts aside, and we worship You by eating You, enjoying You, and rejoicing in You before God! Oh, what a rich Christ we have for our enjoyment! What a wonderful and all-inclusive Christ we have as our portion together with all the saints in the light! Thank You Father for such a Christ, and thank You we can eat Him, enjoy Him, rejoice in Him, and offer Him to You for Your satisfaction!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 29 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Deuteronomy, week 11, Aspects of the Church Life under the Government of God.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Take time to behold Him, / Be calm in thy soul, / Each thought and each temper / Beneath His control. / Thus led by His Spirit / To fountains of love, / Thou then shalt be fitted / His mercy to prove. (Hymns #643)
  – May the mind of Christ my Savior / Live in me from day to day, / By His love and pow’r controlling / All I do and say. / May the Word of Christ dwell richly / In my heart from hour to hour, / So that all may see I triumph / Only through His pow’r. (Hymns #401)
  – Lord, Thou art the Land of Canaan- / Elevated, rich and good, / Flowing with both milk and honey / In a glorious plenitude. / By Thy surplus God we worship, / In Thy fellowship we move; / Thus in love we’re joined together / And God’s building we will prove. (Hymns #196)