Zechariah 7:5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

I am sure most people are familiar with WWW in the context of the World Wide Web. Here my intension is to relate the Who, the Where and the Why of scriptures. Each is important to the understanding of any particular scripture and it’s relevance to our studies and personal attachment. I say personal attachment because there is the ability within us to take on an emotional attachment that may or may not be meant for us personally.

Who is speaking? How much do you know about the character and history of the speaker? Is he a prophet or King? Is he a priest or a messenger? Is he a man at all? What are his genetics? Is he raised up or called into the position he holds? Is there any historical record of his achievements or is this the only record of his involvement? Knowing a person gives more creditability to his words. As an example we know little if anything about Job’s friends Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite save where they were from. Even in that what does that say about them? Should we give credence to their words?

Where is more than a city or region but also a time frame for history. Historical significance changes over time because of rulers, culture, relationships and personal experience. As an example Babylon was a much different place after Israel’s captivity. They influenced Babylon and Babylon influenced them? The returning Jews were different than the Jews that were not led into captivity. History shows a significant attitude towards those who did not live through that seventy year captivity. Do you know the where because it influences the speech?

The why is perhaps the most important W of all.

Psalm 138:2a I will worship toward thy holy temple,

I have this image stuck in my head at this moment. It is of prayer rugs all over the nation of Islam being aligned to point towards Mecca. It is the birthplace of Muhammad and site of his first revelation of the Quran.

I will not disrespect the name or place with this post. I would however ask isn’t this man worship? I suppose you could say the same of Psalm 138 if you didn’t have a proper understanding of just where God’s Holy Temple is located.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

How do we worship toward God if He is in us?

John 4:23-24 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

I am intrigued by the use of the word must in verse 24. It is not part of a phrase and stands alone in its meaning. Rarely do we talk about the things that we must do. We are always espousing our liberty in Christ and yet here is a must do. What happens if we do not? What’s the prescribed penalty for failing to worship in spirit and in truth? None, at least I don’t see one, so what difference does it make?

There you are and there is the Spirit and there is Truth. We know who those two are, the Comforter and Christ. Does that sound a little bit like three part harmony? Lending your voice to this worship completes that harmony, which cannot be achieved without you.