Acceptable Worship in the Old Testament

As we celebrate the birth of Christ this Christmas, may these words be a reminder to us as to what acceptable worship to our God entails:

Thus, acceptable worship in Old Testament terms involves homage, service and reverence, demonstrated in the whole of life. A common factor in these three ways of describing Israel’s response to God is the assumption that he had acted towards them in revelation and redemption, to make it possible for them to engage with him acceptably. By contrast, the worship activities of the nations are considered to be offensive to God, because they are human inventions, arising from misconception about God and ignorance about what pleases him.

David Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1992), 73-74 emphasis mine.