Looking for My Legs

“Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.” Ps. 99:5

Have you ever sat on a three-legged footstool? I have. As a boy in the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts in the late 1950s, I watched a farmer sit on a three-legged stool when he milked a cow. Each of the legs were the same length and were slightly angled outward from the seat to add stability. As for my footstool; which I imagine sitting upon before the Lord and worshipping Him, it too has three legs: one for doctrine; another leg, personal experience; and the last, performance.

Before the Lord so graciously sealed me in the Holy Spirit (see Eph. 1:13,14) about six months ago, I was pretty well tipped forward on the doctrinal leg. Of course, I fell a lot too. Head knowledge: good stuff for the pride and ego; but just another dead work. Always looking down my nose, while the shorter folks looked up mine. Not a pretty sight. I was judgmental; quick to criticize and to find fault with others who didn’t agree with me. That’s not to say that I don’t value and study the Word of God today. I love the majesty of God’s word; it’s continuity; everything that was canonized—from Genesis to Revelation. Man! the stories; the foreshadowing of what was spoken of in the Old Testament and manifest in the New; all of the doctrine just so right and tight, a calming and healing salve, but still there was no balance in my life. I knew a lot, but so what? I needed stability. I needed to know that what I understood doctrinally was true (if it was true it had to be lived!), and that had to be known in my personal experience and performance. I needed to find my legs!    

As for the ‘personal experience’ leg, I was wary about that. I’ve met Christians who thought they had a leg up in personal experience but they fell too. Why? In Ephesians 4:14, Paul warns: “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.” Even as Eve was seduced and deceived in the Garden, we can be deceived if not grounded in Scripture; when we rely instead on what ‘feels right in our own eyes; rather than knowing doctrinally what is good and acceptable. Does that mean we live without feeling? Passion? Absolutely not! “The joy of the Lord is our strength!” Neh. 8:10. Consider King David’s entrance into Jerusalem! He was dancing and shouting praises unto God His King. 1 Sam. 18:6. However, be wary when our supposed ‘joy’ turns to sarcasm, foul language, innuendo. Consider your feelings and actions as you sing and hear a worship song on Sunday morning. Were your feelings and actions the same then as they were the night before at a rock concert? What then was the difference? It’s possible it was our emotional response to the music; not the message and the Spirit embedded in our worship. So, what do we say? Passion, yes! Emotionalism? Go lightly! Again, our feelings and passions must be doctrinally substantiated and on balance to be God-honoring.  

As for performance? Yes, you know our ‘so called’ works. Many people count on the length of this leg to carry them ever bounding into heaven. Let’s just say they plan to pogo there! Doctrinally, if we don’t understand the nature of faith and grace; the righteousness of Christ; the nature of God and our created purpose, and the role of the Holy Spirit who works in us to will and to do what the Father and the Son directs; not us, the highest you and I will ever reach will fall terribly short of God’s glory and Kingdom. Thus, even our works must be examined in the light of Scripture and found in balance with our joyful experience and inward state.

Yes, I would say that when we have balance between these three legs, we will rest steady on His footstool, and He will be exalted and worshipped as He prescribed.  Let us strive for this balance because there is an evil one, who like a lion seeks to devour whom he may. Resist the devil by staying planted and well balanced before our Lord. We can then remain secure in Him and avoid unnecessary chastisement.