“Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy” (Psalm 99:5).

“Exalt Yahweh our God,” the psalmist sings. Give God the praise, the honor, and the glory, of which only He is worthy. He reigns over the nations. Yahweh is enthroned over all creation. He is holy.

“Worship at his footstool.” Bow at His feet. This is the image of a citizen bowing before his king. Perhaps a more familiar image for us is a visitor to the Vatican bowing before the Pope and kissing his ring. Worship God in humble reverence. He is the holy God.

This time of year we especially are reminded of a central truth of our faith. It is a truth that brings us to our knees in humble reverence before the holy God and before the holy Christ. “‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23). The eternal Word, the Son, the Creator of all things, the very source of life and of all that is good, God, all-powerful, full of glory, came. He came near, with us, in the flesh, a man. God with us, Jesus Christ, approachable, available, vulnerable, touchable.

The mystery of His coming, the wonder, the awe, is captured by song writer, Michael Card, in “To the Mystery.”

“No fiction as fantastic and wild
A mother made by her own child
A hopeless babe who cried
‘Was God Incarnate and man deified.

“That is the mystery!
More than you can see
Give up on your pondering
And fall down on your knees.”

When we see Christ on that cross we fall down on our knees before Him. When we see Him in John’s vision of the Lamb, who was slain but is alive, enthroned at the right hand of God, we fall down on our knees before our Lord and King (Revelation 5:6ff). We fall down on our knees, in our hearts, in our minds, in our deepest self—humility, reverence before God.

As heard in the words of the psalmist, humility and reverence rise out of who God is. Yahweh, the Holy One, the sovereign Creator who rules over His creation, enthroned over all peoples. The Lord whose name is great and awesome. “Let the earth quake! Let the peoples tremble. Worship at his footstool. Exalt Yahweh.”

Humility and reverence are heard in the words of the angels to the shepherds. There is humility and reverence in the urgency of the shepherds to find and worship the child. In humility and reverence the magi bowed down and worshiped the child who was the Word of God come in the flesh. (Luke 2:8ff; Matthew 2:11)

The old Christmas carol, “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” calls faithful followers of Christ to come with the shepherds and magi to worship the Son, the Lamb of God, “the King of angels.” The words of the old hymn call us to come joyfully and triumphantly in the salvation and hope that is ours in the Lamb of God crucified, risen, and ascended. Come singing with the choirs of angels, the countless myriads of heavenly hosts who are praising God and the Lamb. Let us join with them in giving to God and to Christ all the glory due the Sovereign Creator and Redeemer. Worship Him with hearts bowed in humble reverence as we are humbled by that grand miracle, the Creator coming in the flesh as the created.

“O come, all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels!

“O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!”

“Adore Him.” Thinking of the infant Jesus, we think “the baby is adorable.” The first definition in Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary for “adore” is “to worship or honor as a deity or divine.” “O come, let us adore Him” is a call to worship, to honor, the Christ-child as God. Showing adoration is the picture used by the psalmist. “Worship at his footstool.” Humility, reverence, awe, bowing before Christ in devotion to him—the attitude with which His faithful followers are to worship Him, the attitude with which His faithful followers are to live.

“God incarnate and man deified. That is the mystery! More than you can see. Give up on your pondering. And fall down on your knees.”

“O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!”

(The picture is by Dona Gelsinger. It was downloaded from bibleresearchtoday.com.)