Servant Series Part 6 Servant Worship
15 And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, …. 16 Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. 17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.” 18 So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21 And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. (Genesis 24:15-21 NKJV)
OK, I am blown away by that first phrase, “And it happened, before he had finished speaking.” The servant is asking for this elaborate sign which, in the natural, one might be tempted to think will take some time. Maybe one girl would offer him water but not water the camels. Another might come along and give him a drink but weary of watering all those camels. Yet another might do both things but not be from Abraham’s family. So, it might take several tries to find this girl, and that’s if he was in the right place to begin with. BUT GOD. God answered this God-honoring, master-honoring prayer before the servant could even finish speaking it! That makes me want to jump up and down and clap!!! I wonder, did the servant have a sense of this at the time? Was this why he ran to meet her? (Or maybe it was just because she was so beautiful he was hoping, for Isaac’s sake, that it was her. : -) )
As soon as Rebecca offered to water the camels, I would have started celebrating, but the servant didn’t jump to any conclusions. Verse 21 says, “And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.” Though he waited, he did so full of wonder as he watched what appeared to be God answering his prayer to the exact detail and so quickly. Did he dare to believe this was really happening?
Once Rebecca finished doing what she said she would do, he took out several expensive gifts for her, possibly as a thank you for her labor or perhaps as part of her dowry since he was almost convinced she was the one. But he still did not celebrate; instead, he asked if there was lodging in her father’s house. From her answer, he discovered she was indeed a relative of Abraham. God had led him straight to his “master’s brethren!” This was important since Abraham had specified that Isaac’s wife must be from among his relatives. NOW the servant knew that God had answered every single detail of his prayer, and just look at his response!
26 Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. 27 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” (Genesis 24:26-27 NKJV)
The servant was moved to worship God! He praised God’s lovingkindness toward both Abraham and himself. The servant prayed to and relied on God for every detail of his mission, and when God prospered it, his response was to humbly worship, acknowledging God’s mercy and truth.
5Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Psalm 3:5-6)
If you missed any of the previous posts in the series just click on the one listed below that you want to read.
Servant Series
Part 1 – Servant Love
Part 2 – Servant Authority
Part 3 – Servant Identity
Part 4 – Servant Connection
Part 5 – Servant Wisdom