AC 8869 - Nature or the Lord; AC 8873 - The Essentials of Worship

AC  8869

Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image.
(Exodus 20:4)

That this means not from self-intelligence,
is evident from the meaning of "a graven image,"
as being that which is not from the Lord,
but from what is a person's own (proprium).
That which is  a person's own of his intellect
is meant by "a graven image,"
and that which is a person's own of his will
is meant by "a molten image."
To have either the one or the other for a god,
or to adore it,
is to love above all things
all that which proceeds from self.
Those who do this entirely disbelieve
that anything of intelligence and wisdom
flows in from the Divine,
for they attribute all things to themselves;
everything else that happens to them
they ascribe either to fortune or to chance.
They totally deny the Divine Providence in such things.
They suppose that if there is anything of Deity present,
it is in the order of nature,
to which they ascribe all things.
They do indeed say with their lips
that some Creator God
has impressed such things upon nature;
but still in their heart they deny any God above nature.
Such are those who from the heart
attribute everything to themselves
and to their own sagacity and intelligence,
and nothing to the Divine . . ..

AC 8873

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.
(Exodus 20:5)

. . . humiliation and submission are essentials of worship,
for worship without them is not worship,
but gesture in imitation of those
who are in the truth of worship;
in which gesture there is nothing of life,
for life from the Lord flows in
solely into a humble and submissive heart,
because such a heart has been fitted to receive.
That such is the case is because
when the heart is truly humble,
nothing of the love of self and of the love of the world
stands in the way.
That both expressions are used,
is because "bowing down" means worship
from the good of love,
and "serving" means worship from the truth of faith.