I’m reading the book “FACEDOWN” by Matt Redman. It’s a very interesting read. Here’s the opening paragraphs, and a few other notes from Chapter 1.

When we face up to the glory of God, we soon find ourselves facedown in worship. To worship facedown is the ultimate outward sign of inner reverence.

Every posture in worship says something of both the worhsipper and the One being gloried in. The raising of hands tells of a soul stretched out high in praise and the worth of the One being exalted. Joyful dancing interprets a grateful heart and points in adoration to the source of the joy. When it comes to expressing our worship, what we do on the outside is a key reflection of what’s taking place on the inside. Out of the overflow of our heart, we speak and sing, we dance, and we bow. God reveals, and we respond. In the same way, facedown worship is the overflow of a heart humbled and amazed by the glory of God. Facedown worship always begins as a posture of the heart.

On several occasions, the Bible gives us a glimpse into heaven and each time, people are facedown in worship. In Rev 1, John falls facedown. A few chapters later (ch 4), the elders fall facedown. A little later in Ch 7, all the angels and the 4 living creatures joined the elders falling facedown. When Ezekiel describes his glimpse into heaven, he saw the “likeness of the glory of the Lord” and he fell facedown. God also gave Daniel a glimpse into heaven, and he wrote in Dan 10:15, “I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless.” And there are many, many facedown worshippers in the bible. A few of the others are Abraham, Moses, Aaron, King David, Peter, James, John.

And sometimes, even those who are unwilling also find themselves facedown. Here’s a recap of one of my favorite stories, found in the Old Testament, as most of my favorites are. In 1 Samuel, the Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant, and ignorant of it’s power of God’s presence, they put it into their temple and place it beside the idol of Dagon. Early the next morning, they find the idol of Dagon facedown on the ground before the Ark of the Lord (1 Samuel 5:1-5). The Philistines obviously still didn’t understand what was going on, because they have the audacity to lift Dagon back up and put him neatly back into place. The next day they arrive at the temple again, and there’s Dagon, back on his face before the Ark of the Lord. Only this time, his head and hands have been broken off, and he’s lying in pieces. So I guess we can say that even Dagon was a facedown worshipper.