Why do we stand to worship God? Can’t we worship lying down in our beds? Can’t we give praise to the Lord slouched in our sofas? Without a doubt! Psalm 149:5 says: “Let the saints rejoice … and sing for joy on their beds.” There is never a time when it is inappropriate to praise God and give Him honor. From standing to lying down, and everything in between (e.g., sitting, kneeling, dancing, driving, hiking, watching a sunset, adoring little babies, washing dishes) … every moment of the day is an opportune time to express our gratitude and love to the One who made us and saved us. When we are in heaven we are “Never Gonna Stop” giving it up to Him. There’s no reason why we can’t do the same here on earth, anytime and in any posture. But there is a special significance to the posture of standing before the Lord. In church, we stand the entire time as we worship God. Understanding Deuteronomy 29 can bring a whole new meaning to standing in God’s presence.

You are standing here today to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God. The LORD is making this covenant with you today, and he has sealed it with an oath. He wants to confirm you today as his people and to confirm that he is your God, just as he promised you, and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But you are not the only ones with whom the LORD is making this covenant with its obligations. The LORD your God is making this covenant with you who stand in his presence today and also with all future generations of Israel. (Deuternomy 29:12-15, NLT). 

As the people of Israel stood there, they weren’t merely tolerating meaningless religious babble. Something of eternal substance was going on … something holy, something that put the fear of God in them. The sacred act of standing there in the presence of the Lord entered them into a covenant relationship with God: He as their God and they as His people. This covenant they entered into there that day wasn’t new, but renewed. It was a confirmation, or a renewal, of a covenant that had already existed before when God had established it long before with their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Not only did God confirm the covenant with them, but also confirmed it with all who would come after them, even us who were grafted into the spiritual nation of Israel through the faith of Abraham (Romans 11:17). And every time we come before the Lord and stand in His presence we get the humbling privilege of renewing our covenant relationship with the Lord: He as our God and we as His people. We get to stand with each other and with all of His people throughout all the ages, now and in the future, even with the angels and all creation, and say together with one unified voice of conviction, “Yes, Lord. You are our God and we will obey You.”

Does that grip your heart? It rips me to the floor. The holiness of God and the cosmic privilege of being part of His incredible family are overwhelming. I want to cry out with Isaiah, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). When Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on the throne, exalted, and the train of His robe filling the temple with glory, he couldn’t help but be cut to the heart, deeply convicted of His sin, when in the awesome presence of the Holy God. But God sent an angel to touch a burning coal from the altar to touch Isaiah’s lips, remove his guilt and forgive his sin. Then God made Isaiah into His messenger and used him for His kingdom. God did the same for us when He sent His Holy Son from throne down to touch us and take away our sins. Now He is sending us out, like Isaiah, as His messengers to make disciples of all nations, teaching them obey all of the Lord’s commands (Matthew 28:20).

But let’s get back to Deuteronomy. Something deeply significant happened there that is still relevant to us today. To understand it better, let’s take a step back and look at the surrounding events of that day. The very first verse of Deuteronomy tell us that the book was a record of the words Moses spoke to the people of Israel on the eastern bank of the Jordan River. They had been wandering in the desert for forty years as punishment for the previous generation’s unbelief. After the stunning, miraculous deliverance from Egypt and those forty years of wandering, God was finally going to let them enter the Promised Land. God divided the Red Sea and let them cross on dry land to save them from Egypt. And in Joshua chapter 3 we read that God divided the Jordan River and let them cross again on dry land to bring them into the Promised Land. The entire book of Deuteronomy occurred just before their miraculous crossing of the Jordan River on dry land. Now because of Moses’ misrepresentation of God in Numbers 20, God wasn’t going to let Moses enter the Promised Land along with the people. In fact, God had him die in the very last chapter of Deuteronomy and Moses knew he was going to die. Moses knew that this was his last chance to speak to the people of Israel and plead with them to follow the Lord. This was his last opportunity to speak into their lives and urge them not to abandon the Lord, but to obey Him. Like an NFL coach giving a final pep talk to his team before the Super Bowl, Moses had prepared his exhortation to the people of Israel on the eve of their return to the Promised Land, the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham so long before.

With the context of that momentous occasion established, let’s look at how the people of Israel may have been feeling just then while they were standing before the Lord, in His presence, in Deuteronomy 29. If we read chapters 27 and 28 we see that Moses laid down the facts before them: blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. They had one simple choice to make with two possible outcomes. The blessings were wonderful and extravagantly generous. But the curses were harsh and horrifyingly terrible. The law was clear and the choice was theirs. In Deuteronomy 30, Moses pleaded with them to make the right choice:

This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand or perform.

The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.

Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live! Choose to love the LORD your God and to obey him and commit yourself to him, for he is your life. Then you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deuternomy 30:11, 14, 19-20). 

The same choice is before us each and every day of our lives. Will we choose life or will we choose death? Each time we stand for worship at church, it’s not merely because everyone else is standing or because we like to sing. We stand before the Lord with conviction knowing full well the solemn choice of blessings or curses before us. We stand in the presence of the Lord and in doing so we renew our vows to Him that He is our God, that we will obey Him and worship no other. We stand before God knowing full well the uncountable cost of the blood that the Lord Jesus suffered to save us. We stand in His presence knowing full well that we do not deserve His sacrifice that we humbly receive and that we were bought at a price and are no longer our own. We stand in the Holy Presence of the Almighty God knowing full well that He is more than able to make the way for His children cross the Rea Sea and the Jordan River. We stand and lift our eyes up to the heavens watching, full of faith, for the return of the Lord Jesus because we know that His resurrection power is able to make us also cross over from earth to heaven, from death to life, from perishable to imperishable, from mortality to immortality (1 Corinthians 16). And when we have entered into the heavenly Promised Land, we will stand before the Throne of the Lamb in His glorious presence and worship Him over and over again saying, like Joshua and the Israelites after they had taken the earthly Promised Land, “We will serve the LORD our God. We will obey him alone” (Joshua 24).

Lord, please reveal Your holiness to me as I stand in Your presence. Reveal the blinding light of Your majesty that it may burn away every impurity in me until I stand before only by grace alone. And as I stand there in Your presence, give me a zealous passion to champion Your honor and I strive with all my energy to life a life that is pleasing in Your sight and brings You honor. You are so worthy, Lord, to receive all glory and honor and power! Use me to reflect Your light that others may worship You and glorify Your holy name! May I become less and You become greater. May none of my flesh glory in Your presence. And through humility build unity in our worship team, in our church, and in the Body of Christ to worship You with a single voice of passion and commitment. Confirm our covenant with You. Hallelujah!