SOMEONE ABOVE US

To bow down releases in us a certain pride and resistance to our own strength as we bow down in voluntary weakness. Bowing and kneeling is a position of humility and vulnerability. We are placing ourselves in a posture of lowliness and saying by that posture that someone else is higher than our lowly position. It is to verify that someone is above us.

We see this throughout history as an apt way to respect royalty and to worship the Lord. Nearly all cultures, except in the West, still show respect in this manner. It is also interesting that most religions (Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.) openly and unashamedly bow down, as part of their religious practice and the only group to rarely do this is Western Christians. Perhaps is has to do with our view of how much we need God and how respectful we are toward that need.

“And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”
(The Revelation of Jesus Christ 5:8)

“You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” Jesus