Real Hope: WorshipНамуна

The Dust Of Worship

I stepped off the path and onto the sand and immediately looked down. This did not feel like sand. I tried to hide my surprise from my friend, hoping she didn’t notice that my beachside-born-and-bred feet knew the difference between real sand and dirt that had been ground down to look like sand. I was surprised at how much this ‘sand’ stuck to my feet, covering them in a fine dusty layer.

It reminded me of the old Hebrew blessing: ‘May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi’, meaning may you be recognisable by whom you follow and how closely you follow them. Our worship is a form of following that distinguishes us by how closely we follow, and identifies us by the one we follow. 

When Joshua meets the commander of the Lord’s army, he immediately falls down in worship, distinguishing himself as being less than God. He is then asked to take his shoes off, an act that would mean his feet would get dusty with dust that had the presence of God on it. Who wouldn’t want to be identified by such dust? True worship is setting aside who we are in order to be covered in the dust of that whom we worship.

Whose dust does your worship cover you in?

written by NERI MORRIS