(A meditation on Psalm 84:9-12)
9 Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!
The psalmists here add a third blessing in this psalm. This blessing is the blessing of trusting in the Lord. Verse 9 opens with a prayer that God would see. “Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!” The Anointed is none other than the Son of David, the king, the Messiah.
The sons of Korah declare that the Lord's anointed is their shield. Of course we sing this psalm and we say that the Anointed, the Son of David, is our Lord Jesus the Christ. He is the Good King who is our Shield and Protector until the end.
So we pray, “O God, when you look upon your people, do not look at our sins. Do not look at us! Rather, look on our shield look on the face of your Anointed!”
As we walk on this pilgrimage, as we pass through the Valley of Tears, we ask that our God would look upon the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it is that face that we adore! It is that face that we behold with unveiled faces as we look into the word of God, and see Jesus exalted at God's right hand.
“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.” One day with God is better than three years anywhere else. Do you believe that?
What we do in public corporate worship is designed to be a reminder of this. We hear God's voice speaking in his word. We see Jesus as He reveals Himself in the breaking of the bread. We share in the joy of the Holy Spirit as we sing the praises of the living God. We come to the heavenly Mount Zion, the New Jerusalem, and we gather with all the saints from all ages, and we hear the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed.
“A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere! I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” I'd rather be a servant, a doorkeeper, someone who has to stay by the door and be ready for unexpected guests, than being a master in the tents of wickedness.
You see, there is no menial task in the house of the LORD. Everything we do before God is glorious. To serve Christ is no small thing. If your hearts are tuned to worship God, it doesn't matter whether you're a doorkeeper or a teacher in the house of God. Each one is important!
In verse 11, we can see clearly that the one who comes to worship the living God comes with the expectation that God will bestow favor and honor. We come to worship with eager anticipation that our loving Father will speak to us, that our beloved Lord Jesus will feed us, and that we will be filled with His Holy Spirit.
We need to believe that the Triune God fulfills what He promises and bestows favor and honor upon His people. And He does this by His Word and Spirit.
He gives all good things to those who walk uprightly. Jesus reflects on this when He says that the Father will give the Spirit to those who ask. As you go or drive to church on Sunday morning, do you ask God to give good things to His people?
Finally, the psalmists say, “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!” This verse fits beautifully with what our Lord Jesus said about the Psalms that speak of Him, because Jesus is the blessed man who trusted in the Lord of hosts. He is the one who sang this Psalm throughout his life, throughout His pilgrimage on earth. He longed for the courts of the living God! He knew that a day in the heavenly courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
And because Jesus is the blessed man, therefore God looks upon the face of His Anointed, and grants His favor and honor to those who trust in Jesus.
As you come to worship, come with longing! Come with joy because you know that here you will meet with the living God. Here you will gain strength in His courts so that you might journey from strength to strength, until the day that you appear before him in Zion.
You see, life’s true purpose, its fullest joy, its deepest satisfaction is found in communion and worship with God together with His people. It is in serving the Lord in complete dependence and delight in Him and in trusting His gracious provision and protection.
You need to understand that this God whom you worship is everything to you. He has supplied your deepest needs and desires. So who would not want to be with God and commune and worship with Him? He is God our blessedness. He is our delight!
To those of you who have been in the church since you were a little child, I'm sure it breaks your heart every time you can't be in the house of the Lord and to be with His people to worship Him. I'm sure that by the grace of God, you will never get tired of serving Him in His house.
I tell you there’s no place I’d rather be on the face of this earth than in the assembly of God’s people, worshiping God, gathered to praise His holy Name Lord’s Day after Lord’s Day.
The saints and servants of God delights being in the house of the Lord. So did these temple servants and doorkeepers, the sons of Korah. They loved to be in the house of the Lord for there their trust in God is nurtured and strengthened. And no good thing will he withhold from those who walk in wholehearted devotion to Him. How blessed is the man who trust in the goodness of God!
Showing posts with label Psalm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm. Show all posts
Friday, November 12, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Blessings of Worshiping God
(A meditation on Psalm 84:1-4)
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah
The one longing of our heart all our life is the worship of God. We were created to give honor and praise to our God and Creator. About sixteen centuries ago Saint Augustine said that God has made us in such a way that we remain restless until we find rest in Him. Until our souls find comfort and joy in the true worship of God, our deepest longing in life will remain unsatisfied.
My hope and my prayer is that every Lord's Day, when we gather together as God's covenant people in worship, our deepest desire is fulfilled and we find rest in our soul.
There is tremendous blessing that awaits you and me when we seek the adoration of our God. Blessed are those who yearn to have fellowship and communion with the living God! Blessed are those whose desire is to dwell in the presence of God forever, serving and loving Him with all their heart, mind, and soul!
Psalm 84 is designed to draw the people of God into the vision of the living God in His holy temple. It speaks of the intensity of the psalmists' desire to worship God in His temple. Thus in Psalm 84 we see that God pronounces a threefold blessing upon those who worship Him. (The psalmist mentions the word "blessed" in vv. 4, 5, and 12).
The idea of serving God and worshiping Him in His temple is prominent in this psalm. And this theme of service or worship is paralleled by the idea of blessedness. As you may know, the idea of being blessed is the notion of the one who has found the fullest joy, the deepest satisfaction, and the truest purpose of life.
The person who is blessed knows and lives life’s true purpose. He knows that man is made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Therefore the person who is truly blessed experiences the fullness of joy. Not that he’s happy in a superficial sense all the time or that nothing bad ever comes in his life experiences.
Rather whether he experiences triumph or trial in this life the blessed man is grounded in a deep joy because he knows God and he knows His purpose. He knows why he’s here and he finds deep satisfaction in God that cannot be taken away from him by any of his ever changing circumstances.
Whether your experiences in life are momentary joys and triumphs or continuing trials that tempt you to question the love and goodness of God, don't forget that you were made to glorify God. The person who knows life’s true purpose will experience its fullness of joy and will find its true blessedness regardless of the situation in and around him.
We will explore this threefold blessing that the psalmists talk about upon those who seek to serve and worship God. First of all, let's focus on the truth that those who worship God will experience the blessing of dwelling in God's house (vv.1-4).
Psalm 84 is a psalm of the Sons of Korah. Korah was one of the ancestors of the Levitical singers of the temple whom King David had appointed. So the Sons of Korah were singers in the temple. They serve in the temple. There are eleven psalms attributed to them. Most of these psalms give a prominent place to Zion, to Jerusalem, or to the temple. That is not surprising because the sons of Korah dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem!
But while the Sons of Korah write about things familiar to them, they do not write for themselves alone. As I've said, Psalm 84 is designed to draw the people of God into the vision of the living God in the temple.
In verses 1-4, notice how the psalmist focus our attention on the blessedness of dwelling in God’s house, especially when God’s people are gathered in worship. You see, the psalmist tells us that the person who is blessed is found in communion and worship with God and with His people.
The psalmist is saying that the people who get to be in the house of God and worship and praise Him are blessed. The people who long for God, who long to worship God, to know God, to praise God, they are the ones who are truly blessed.
That’s very important in our day and age. More and more churches are realizing that fewer and fewer people are interested in worshiping God when they come to church. So they are coming up with other things for them to do when they come to church because those people do not delight in worshiping God. And I want you to notice that God’s pronouncement of blessedness is not upon them. His pronouncement of blessedness is upon those who long to be with God, communing with the people of God in the worship of God.
That’s the first lesson for us out of Psalm 84:1-4. Of course, we don’t have a temple to go to anymore. We don't have to bring animal sacrifices for our sins. The building, the sanctuary where we gather for worship, is what we call God’s house because God dwells wherever His people are gathered.
God’s house is not a beautiful building built by Solomon in Jerusalem. We are told in the New Testament that God does not dwell in any place made by the hand of man. God’s house is God's people, redeemed by the blood of His Son. You and I are the house of God. He dwells among us by His Spirit.
So wherever God’s people gather, whether we gather here or in a gymnasium, when God’s people gather to worship the living God, there we find the dwelling place of God. We are God’s house. In Christ the living God has come to dwell among us. In Him the psalmist's longing for the house of God is fulfilled. Thus, our secure location and greatest joy is to be at home with God in Christ. Christ is the reality that we as believers enjoy. To be in Christ is to be blessed.
The psalmist will later say that there is no place on earth that he would rather be than in the temple of the Lord with the people of God, praising Him. And for the New Covenant believer, what we say is that there is no place that we would rather be than in Christ.
And how do we expressed our being in Christ? By being united with the body of Christ, the people of God, in fellowship and worship. We delight in our union with Christ through our worship of God and the communion of saints. There we find our fullest satisfaction. There we find our joy.
We long to be with God, singing and praising Him. But this is not possible apart from our Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God. That's why we sing and pray to God in the name of our Savior and Lord. Through Christ worship is the highest expression of our longing for God. And the psalmist said that’s true blessedness: the one who longs for God and to be with God’s people gathered in worshiping Him. That’s the person who understands life’s true purpose, who has experienced the fullness of joy, has found deep satisfaction, and has found communion and worship with God’s people.
Where do you want to be? Is your soul longing to be sitting in front of a ball game or show? Do you faint to see your favorite team's home court or the courts of the Lord?
You see, we were created for God. He made us for Himself, and so we have a God-shaped hole in the center of our lives, and we try our best to fill that hole with something. At the center of your being, what do you long for?
When you have seen and entered the dwelling place of the Lord of hosts you have no desire to be any place else. As the sons of Korah reflected on this, walking through the courtyard of the temple, beholding the glory of the courts of the Lord, they saw something that caught their attention. There, high up on the temple, perhaps in the latticework around the courtyard, were birds' nests.
Then they realize that all creation draws near to God in the temple. Here in the courts of the Lord, even the birds find a home. Not a sparrow falls from its nest, but the Lord of Hosts sees. If the Lord of hosts welcomes birds to nest in His courts, how much more will He welcome you who long for Him!
Because, as Hebrews 12 says, we have come to the heavenly Jerusalem; and because we have come to the courts of the living God, we may now dwell in the house of the Lord forever! And this is now a reality for us because our Lord Jesus Christ has brought us through the veil of the earthly temple and brought us into the holy of Holies, where we behold Him. We see Jesus, crowned with glory and honor, sitting at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. That is what we do in our worship.
We come into the very presence of God on the basis of the sacrifice of our great high priest, Jesus Christ. We then hear His Word, read and proclaimed, and made visible by the sacraments and we respond to His Word with praises and prayers. Then we are fed at His table and go forth with His blessing.
This is not merely an earthly assembly. When we gather for worship we gather with all the heavenly hosts, with all the saints from all times and places as the Spirit lifts us in the heavenly courts in order to sing the praises of our Triune God. That is our blessedness!
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah
The one longing of our heart all our life is the worship of God. We were created to give honor and praise to our God and Creator. About sixteen centuries ago Saint Augustine said that God has made us in such a way that we remain restless until we find rest in Him. Until our souls find comfort and joy in the true worship of God, our deepest longing in life will remain unsatisfied.
My hope and my prayer is that every Lord's Day, when we gather together as God's covenant people in worship, our deepest desire is fulfilled and we find rest in our soul.
There is tremendous blessing that awaits you and me when we seek the adoration of our God. Blessed are those who yearn to have fellowship and communion with the living God! Blessed are those whose desire is to dwell in the presence of God forever, serving and loving Him with all their heart, mind, and soul!
Psalm 84 is designed to draw the people of God into the vision of the living God in His holy temple. It speaks of the intensity of the psalmists' desire to worship God in His temple. Thus in Psalm 84 we see that God pronounces a threefold blessing upon those who worship Him. (The psalmist mentions the word "blessed" in vv. 4, 5, and 12).
The idea of serving God and worshiping Him in His temple is prominent in this psalm. And this theme of service or worship is paralleled by the idea of blessedness. As you may know, the idea of being blessed is the notion of the one who has found the fullest joy, the deepest satisfaction, and the truest purpose of life.
The person who is blessed knows and lives life’s true purpose. He knows that man is made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Therefore the person who is truly blessed experiences the fullness of joy. Not that he’s happy in a superficial sense all the time or that nothing bad ever comes in his life experiences.
Rather whether he experiences triumph or trial in this life the blessed man is grounded in a deep joy because he knows God and he knows His purpose. He knows why he’s here and he finds deep satisfaction in God that cannot be taken away from him by any of his ever changing circumstances.
Whether your experiences in life are momentary joys and triumphs or continuing trials that tempt you to question the love and goodness of God, don't forget that you were made to glorify God. The person who knows life’s true purpose will experience its fullness of joy and will find its true blessedness regardless of the situation in and around him.
We will explore this threefold blessing that the psalmists talk about upon those who seek to serve and worship God. First of all, let's focus on the truth that those who worship God will experience the blessing of dwelling in God's house (vv.1-4).
Psalm 84 is a psalm of the Sons of Korah. Korah was one of the ancestors of the Levitical singers of the temple whom King David had appointed. So the Sons of Korah were singers in the temple. They serve in the temple. There are eleven psalms attributed to them. Most of these psalms give a prominent place to Zion, to Jerusalem, or to the temple. That is not surprising because the sons of Korah dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem!
But while the Sons of Korah write about things familiar to them, they do not write for themselves alone. As I've said, Psalm 84 is designed to draw the people of God into the vision of the living God in the temple.
In verses 1-4, notice how the psalmist focus our attention on the blessedness of dwelling in God’s house, especially when God’s people are gathered in worship. You see, the psalmist tells us that the person who is blessed is found in communion and worship with God and with His people.
The psalmist is saying that the people who get to be in the house of God and worship and praise Him are blessed. The people who long for God, who long to worship God, to know God, to praise God, they are the ones who are truly blessed.
That’s very important in our day and age. More and more churches are realizing that fewer and fewer people are interested in worshiping God when they come to church. So they are coming up with other things for them to do when they come to church because those people do not delight in worshiping God. And I want you to notice that God’s pronouncement of blessedness is not upon them. His pronouncement of blessedness is upon those who long to be with God, communing with the people of God in the worship of God.
That’s the first lesson for us out of Psalm 84:1-4. Of course, we don’t have a temple to go to anymore. We don't have to bring animal sacrifices for our sins. The building, the sanctuary where we gather for worship, is what we call God’s house because God dwells wherever His people are gathered.
God’s house is not a beautiful building built by Solomon in Jerusalem. We are told in the New Testament that God does not dwell in any place made by the hand of man. God’s house is God's people, redeemed by the blood of His Son. You and I are the house of God. He dwells among us by His Spirit.
So wherever God’s people gather, whether we gather here or in a gymnasium, when God’s people gather to worship the living God, there we find the dwelling place of God. We are God’s house. In Christ the living God has come to dwell among us. In Him the psalmist's longing for the house of God is fulfilled. Thus, our secure location and greatest joy is to be at home with God in Christ. Christ is the reality that we as believers enjoy. To be in Christ is to be blessed.
The psalmist will later say that there is no place on earth that he would rather be than in the temple of the Lord with the people of God, praising Him. And for the New Covenant believer, what we say is that there is no place that we would rather be than in Christ.
And how do we expressed our being in Christ? By being united with the body of Christ, the people of God, in fellowship and worship. We delight in our union with Christ through our worship of God and the communion of saints. There we find our fullest satisfaction. There we find our joy.
We long to be with God, singing and praising Him. But this is not possible apart from our Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God. That's why we sing and pray to God in the name of our Savior and Lord. Through Christ worship is the highest expression of our longing for God. And the psalmist said that’s true blessedness: the one who longs for God and to be with God’s people gathered in worshiping Him. That’s the person who understands life’s true purpose, who has experienced the fullness of joy, has found deep satisfaction, and has found communion and worship with God’s people.
Where do you want to be? Is your soul longing to be sitting in front of a ball game or show? Do you faint to see your favorite team's home court or the courts of the Lord?
You see, we were created for God. He made us for Himself, and so we have a God-shaped hole in the center of our lives, and we try our best to fill that hole with something. At the center of your being, what do you long for?
When you have seen and entered the dwelling place of the Lord of hosts you have no desire to be any place else. As the sons of Korah reflected on this, walking through the courtyard of the temple, beholding the glory of the courts of the Lord, they saw something that caught their attention. There, high up on the temple, perhaps in the latticework around the courtyard, were birds' nests.
Then they realize that all creation draws near to God in the temple. Here in the courts of the Lord, even the birds find a home. Not a sparrow falls from its nest, but the Lord of Hosts sees. If the Lord of hosts welcomes birds to nest in His courts, how much more will He welcome you who long for Him!
Because, as Hebrews 12 says, we have come to the heavenly Jerusalem; and because we have come to the courts of the living God, we may now dwell in the house of the Lord forever! And this is now a reality for us because our Lord Jesus Christ has brought us through the veil of the earthly temple and brought us into the holy of Holies, where we behold Him. We see Jesus, crowned with glory and honor, sitting at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. That is what we do in our worship.
We come into the very presence of God on the basis of the sacrifice of our great high priest, Jesus Christ. We then hear His Word, read and proclaimed, and made visible by the sacraments and we respond to His Word with praises and prayers. Then we are fed at His table and go forth with His blessing.
This is not merely an earthly assembly. When we gather for worship we gather with all the heavenly hosts, with all the saints from all times and places as the Spirit lifts us in the heavenly courts in order to sing the praises of our Triune God. That is our blessedness!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The Lord's Lovingkindness
In Psalm 33:5b, the psalmist continues to remind the congregation that God is not only truthful in His word and faithful in His works, not only that He delights in justice and righteousness, but also that ‘the earth is full of His unfailing love.’ The word unfailing love in the original language is the same as lovingkindness or steadfast love in other translations. Lovingkindness is a concrete manifestation of God’s goodness.
The idea of God’s lovingkindness in this verse is that of a general favor toward all the earth. But lovingkindness is commonly used to refer to God’s special favor toward His own chosen people. This is especially clear in v. 12 where God pronounces blessing upon Israel, His chosen people, whom God has called to be a royal priesthood, a chosen nation, a people belonging to Him.
As God's new covenant people, God’s blessing and special favor rest upon us, the church, through Jesus Christ. As such, God has called us out of the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous kingdom of light. For what purpose? Peter says that God has blessed us ‘that [we] may declare the praises of him who called [us].’ God’s lovingkindness is upon you and me that we may go and proclaim to the world God’s work of salvation. He has called us to serve Him as salt and light of this world. He chose us that we may live as strangers and aliens in this world on our way to the heavenly kingdom.
But as we do, God exhorts us to abstain from sinful desires that endanger our souls. He commands us to live such good and holy lives among the pagans that though they may accuse us of doing wrong, they may see our good deeds and glorify God in the end. Such is our calling as God’s chosen people.
While the Lord looks down and sees all mankind, His eyes are especially on those whose hope is in His unfailing love. Verse 19 tells us the reason why God does this to you and me. The verse says, ‘to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.’ No wonder that at the end of this psalm God’s covenant people invoke God’s lovingkindness to rest upon them as they put their hope in Him.
God’s steadfast love is expressed in His acts of grace, patience and forgiveness to those who trust and fear Him. Because of His tender mercies, we are not consumed in the holy presence of God. The bestowal of His lovingkindness to us leads us to repentance.
Not only that, God’s steadfast love also carries us through even in our failures for ‘if we are faithless, He remains faithful’ (2 Tim 2:13). It is God’s enduring principle at work in our life even when all hopes seem to fade and the present seems so bleak for ‘His lovingkindness endures forever’ (Psalm 136).
I remember, when prophet Jeremiah was in the midst of destruction and turmoil, he finds hope and comfort in God’s unfailing love. Because of God’s tender mercies he was able to sing a new song of praise to God saying, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam 3:22-23).
Be at peace, children of God, for the Lord is with you. In this world you may go through all kinds of trials because of your faith in God. You may be going through a difficult situation in your work, in your marriage, or in your relationship with your children. Maybe you are having personal issues and troubles that keep on bothering you. God’s abiding love in Christ remains in you through His Spirit. You can therefore lift your hearts to God in joyful adoration for He alone deserves your praise and thanksgiving.
You have a truthful and faithful God who keeps His promises. You have a righteous and just Redeemer and Lord who saves you and forgives all your sins. And you have a loving God who will enable you to persevere to the end. Lay down your burdens to Him. Cast your sorrows upon Him for He cares for you. And together let us join our voices to sing the glories of this God whom we worship and praise.
The idea of God’s lovingkindness in this verse is that of a general favor toward all the earth. But lovingkindness is commonly used to refer to God’s special favor toward His own chosen people. This is especially clear in v. 12 where God pronounces blessing upon Israel, His chosen people, whom God has called to be a royal priesthood, a chosen nation, a people belonging to Him.
As God's new covenant people, God’s blessing and special favor rest upon us, the church, through Jesus Christ. As such, God has called us out of the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous kingdom of light. For what purpose? Peter says that God has blessed us ‘that [we] may declare the praises of him who called [us].’ God’s lovingkindness is upon you and me that we may go and proclaim to the world God’s work of salvation. He has called us to serve Him as salt and light of this world. He chose us that we may live as strangers and aliens in this world on our way to the heavenly kingdom.
But as we do, God exhorts us to abstain from sinful desires that endanger our souls. He commands us to live such good and holy lives among the pagans that though they may accuse us of doing wrong, they may see our good deeds and glorify God in the end. Such is our calling as God’s chosen people.
While the Lord looks down and sees all mankind, His eyes are especially on those whose hope is in His unfailing love. Verse 19 tells us the reason why God does this to you and me. The verse says, ‘to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.’ No wonder that at the end of this psalm God’s covenant people invoke God’s lovingkindness to rest upon them as they put their hope in Him.
God’s steadfast love is expressed in His acts of grace, patience and forgiveness to those who trust and fear Him. Because of His tender mercies, we are not consumed in the holy presence of God. The bestowal of His lovingkindness to us leads us to repentance.
Not only that, God’s steadfast love also carries us through even in our failures for ‘if we are faithless, He remains faithful’ (2 Tim 2:13). It is God’s enduring principle at work in our life even when all hopes seem to fade and the present seems so bleak for ‘His lovingkindness endures forever’ (Psalm 136).
I remember, when prophet Jeremiah was in the midst of destruction and turmoil, he finds hope and comfort in God’s unfailing love. Because of God’s tender mercies he was able to sing a new song of praise to God saying, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam 3:22-23).
Be at peace, children of God, for the Lord is with you. In this world you may go through all kinds of trials because of your faith in God. You may be going through a difficult situation in your work, in your marriage, or in your relationship with your children. Maybe you are having personal issues and troubles that keep on bothering you. God’s abiding love in Christ remains in you through His Spirit. You can therefore lift your hearts to God in joyful adoration for He alone deserves your praise and thanksgiving.
You have a truthful and faithful God who keeps His promises. You have a righteous and just Redeemer and Lord who saves you and forgives all your sins. And you have a loving God who will enable you to persevere to the end. Lay down your burdens to Him. Cast your sorrows upon Him for He cares for you. And together let us join our voices to sing the glories of this God whom we worship and praise.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Praising the Lord Our God - Part 2
[The LORD] loves righteousness and justice... ~ Psalm 33:5a
God "loves righteousness and justice." Righteousness and justice are two closely related moral attributes of God, akin to His holiness and wrath, whereby ‘He maintains Himself as the Holy One over against every violation of His holiness’ (Louis Berkhof, A Summary of Christian Doctrine, p.33). Our God delights in doing what is right and just because He is righteous and just.
As the Creator and Lord over all the earth, He governs the whole world with righteousness and justice. And how does He do that? Through His law which is the standard of His righteousness.
Essential to the notion of righteousness is conformity and obedience to the law of God. The world is full of wickedness and injustice because it rejects the law of God. Our society in general abhors the law of God. In its rebellion against the righteous rule of God the world is under judgment. That’s why Paul says, “the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom.1:18).
Friends, God is holy. His holiness sets Him apart from us. He hates sin and evil and punishes them who do evil. Part of His punishment is to give sinners over to their own deceitful hearts, sinful passions and depraved minds. Yet in His righteousness He rewards those who do what is right.
But who among us do what is right always? Who among us obey the law of God perfectly? No one, except our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 3 does not only tell us that no one is righteous and no one does good. It also declares that God manifested His righteousness and justice in Jesus Christ. God presented Him as propitiation, that is, as an atoning sacrifice that satisfied God’s wrath against our sins.
Jesus, the Lamb of God, the Righteous One, is God’s perfect sacrifice for our sins. He perfectly obeyed the law of God and offered Himself in His death in our behalf.
So none of us can boast before God. All of us are guilty of disobeying His law. None of us is righteous. None of us does what is right. We deserve His wrath. But if by faith you and I accept the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, we are counted righteous. We are united with Him who was tempted in every way yet did not sin so that in Him we who believe become the ‘righteousness of God’ (2 Cor 5:21).
One Puritan pastor puts it this way: “It is our wisdom and our comfort; we care for no knowledge in the world but this: that man hath sinned and God hath suffered; that God hath made himself the sin of men, and that men are made the righteousness of God" (Thomas Hooker).” This is good news! This is the gospel!
So how do we magnify the righteousness of God? The best way is to believe that Christ is our righteousness…that in Him, by faith, God has declared us righteous… that we now stand in a right relationship with God, His law, and His justice…that through Christ we have peace with God and have obtained mercy. Look to Christ. Behold Him as your righteousness and God will not count your sin against you any longer.
We also magnify God’s righteousness by loving His law, His righteous law. When I say the law of God, I’m referring not only to all the laws and commands of God in the Bible but the whole written Word of God itself. Do you love reading and memorizing the word of God? Most of all, do you delight in obeying His Word? Obedience to God’s Word is another way to praise God in His righteousness.
Devoting your time in meditating in order to practice the Word is another way of conforming to God's righteousness. Joshua 1:8 says, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
The law of God is for our good. The Apostle John says, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). When God justifies us, He also gives us the ability to love His Word and to keep His Word. By keeping His Word, we conform to His righteousness and that way we glorify God.
No matter how hard your situation is, God desires your obedience. When your faith is tested look to Christ as your only righteousness for in the light of it, you can endure, even rejoice, in your sufferings. Look to Him who endured all kinds of injustice and pain for your sake.
In all your trials and suffering, remember Him who suffered for you. But do not forget that in all your hardships, God still does what is right and good for you. In Christ, He turns your sorrows into joy, your mourning into dancing, your affliction into opportunity to grow in your faith and obedience. Suffering builds up good character and strengthens hope for God’s people. God alone makes good out of evil. He alone makes right from wrong. He alone does what is right and just. This is the righteous God of the Scripture.
Oh, how easily we accuse God of being unfair when adversity strikes us. Maybe someone very close to you keeps on hurting you. Maybe you have been cheated or abused by someone and it still bothers you. Before accusing God of being unfair or getting back at your perpetrator, remember Christ and the agony He has to go through in bearing the consequences of your sins.
Remember that He was without sin but because of your sins and my sins, He was forsaken by many, hated, scorned and bruised by those who wished him dead. But He endured them all so that you and I will be forgiven. He suffered so that you and I would sin no more. He was afflicted so that you and I would stop hurting each other and would start building up one another in the faith.
We can glorify God even in the most painful situation of our lives when we recognize our suffering and count it with joy that God regards us worthy to share in the suffering of His Son. God knows what is right for us and He does what is right for us, even allowing us to go through difficult circumstances.
God "loves righteousness and justice." Righteousness and justice are two closely related moral attributes of God, akin to His holiness and wrath, whereby ‘He maintains Himself as the Holy One over against every violation of His holiness’ (Louis Berkhof, A Summary of Christian Doctrine, p.33). Our God delights in doing what is right and just because He is righteous and just.
As the Creator and Lord over all the earth, He governs the whole world with righteousness and justice. And how does He do that? Through His law which is the standard of His righteousness.
Essential to the notion of righteousness is conformity and obedience to the law of God. The world is full of wickedness and injustice because it rejects the law of God. Our society in general abhors the law of God. In its rebellion against the righteous rule of God the world is under judgment. That’s why Paul says, “the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom.1:18).
Friends, God is holy. His holiness sets Him apart from us. He hates sin and evil and punishes them who do evil. Part of His punishment is to give sinners over to their own deceitful hearts, sinful passions and depraved minds. Yet in His righteousness He rewards those who do what is right.
But who among us do what is right always? Who among us obey the law of God perfectly? No one, except our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 3 does not only tell us that no one is righteous and no one does good. It also declares that God manifested His righteousness and justice in Jesus Christ. God presented Him as propitiation, that is, as an atoning sacrifice that satisfied God’s wrath against our sins.
Jesus, the Lamb of God, the Righteous One, is God’s perfect sacrifice for our sins. He perfectly obeyed the law of God and offered Himself in His death in our behalf.
So none of us can boast before God. All of us are guilty of disobeying His law. None of us is righteous. None of us does what is right. We deserve His wrath. But if by faith you and I accept the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, we are counted righteous. We are united with Him who was tempted in every way yet did not sin so that in Him we who believe become the ‘righteousness of God’ (2 Cor 5:21).
One Puritan pastor puts it this way: “It is our wisdom and our comfort; we care for no knowledge in the world but this: that man hath sinned and God hath suffered; that God hath made himself the sin of men, and that men are made the righteousness of God" (Thomas Hooker).” This is good news! This is the gospel!
So how do we magnify the righteousness of God? The best way is to believe that Christ is our righteousness…that in Him, by faith, God has declared us righteous… that we now stand in a right relationship with God, His law, and His justice…that through Christ we have peace with God and have obtained mercy. Look to Christ. Behold Him as your righteousness and God will not count your sin against you any longer.
We also magnify God’s righteousness by loving His law, His righteous law. When I say the law of God, I’m referring not only to all the laws and commands of God in the Bible but the whole written Word of God itself. Do you love reading and memorizing the word of God? Most of all, do you delight in obeying His Word? Obedience to God’s Word is another way to praise God in His righteousness.
Devoting your time in meditating in order to practice the Word is another way of conforming to God's righteousness. Joshua 1:8 says, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
The law of God is for our good. The Apostle John says, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). When God justifies us, He also gives us the ability to love His Word and to keep His Word. By keeping His Word, we conform to His righteousness and that way we glorify God.
No matter how hard your situation is, God desires your obedience. When your faith is tested look to Christ as your only righteousness for in the light of it, you can endure, even rejoice, in your sufferings. Look to Him who endured all kinds of injustice and pain for your sake.
In all your trials and suffering, remember Him who suffered for you. But do not forget that in all your hardships, God still does what is right and good for you. In Christ, He turns your sorrows into joy, your mourning into dancing, your affliction into opportunity to grow in your faith and obedience. Suffering builds up good character and strengthens hope for God’s people. God alone makes good out of evil. He alone makes right from wrong. He alone does what is right and just. This is the righteous God of the Scripture.
Oh, how easily we accuse God of being unfair when adversity strikes us. Maybe someone very close to you keeps on hurting you. Maybe you have been cheated or abused by someone and it still bothers you. Before accusing God of being unfair or getting back at your perpetrator, remember Christ and the agony He has to go through in bearing the consequences of your sins.
Remember that He was without sin but because of your sins and my sins, He was forsaken by many, hated, scorned and bruised by those who wished him dead. But He endured them all so that you and I will be forgiven. He suffered so that you and I would sin no more. He was afflicted so that you and I would stop hurting each other and would start building up one another in the faith.
We can glorify God even in the most painful situation of our lives when we recognize our suffering and count it with joy that God regards us worthy to share in the suffering of His Son. God knows what is right for us and He does what is right for us, even allowing us to go through difficult circumstances.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Praising the Lord Our God
Psalm 33:4
In corporate worship, God invites us to come before His presence and be awed by His glory and majesty. As we listen to Him speaking through His life-giving Word, we respond in humility, confessing our unworthiness. We also respond in joyful thanksgiving to Him through our songs and prayers for all the good gifts He gives us through our Lord Jesus Christ.
In worshiping God, our highest aim is to magnify Him, to exalt His glory and all His wonderful attributes. It is not to entertain ourselves or make ourselves feel good. Yet in worshiping God, we find Him satisfying our deepest, most basic longing, that is, to glorify the One who is worthy of praise, the One who gives us life and its meaning.
When God’s people find themselves worshiping in His presence, God Himself finds them doing what is right for "praise is becoming to the upright" (Ps. 33.1). Praise is fitting to the saints of the Lord for that’s the reason why you and I were created.
Psalm 33 tells us that God’s people are called to praise God’s excellent qualities. It is one of Israel’s greatest hymns of praise. It opens with the psalmist’s five-fold summons to the gathered assembly of the righteous to praise the Lord. You and I ought to bow down before the Lord our God in humble worship. And the psalmist enumerates for us many reasons in praising God.
We will focus our meditation on verse 4, highlighting the truthfulness and faithfulness of God as reasons for praising Him.
In this psalm, the writer begins by summoning the gathered assembly of worshipers to praise God. Right at the very beginning, he tells the worshipers to sing joyfully to the Lord. Take note how the lyrics vividly express an exuberant note exalting the glories of the Lord.
This psalm boasts of God’s glorious perfections in His own being, in His mighty work in creation, and in His sovereign plan over all the earth, particularly over His own chosen people. It is clear that the word ‘for’ at the beginning of verse 4 connects the invitation to praise (vv.1-3) with the reasons for praising God. Just as the word of God is right and true and His work is always faithful, so is He, in His being.
God is not separated from what He does and what He says. He is, at the very core of His being, faithful and true. So His Word and works match with His character. Thus God cannot lie and does not tell a lie. When He makes promises, He fulfills them. When He speaks, He speaks the truth. When He does something, He does what is right.
Our God is trustworthy. He is dependable and consistent. Do you know who He stands in stark contrast with? The evil one! Yes, the devil fills the world with his lies and deceptions. He is a liar from the beginning. He is the father of lies. He makes lies appear as truth. He makes promises but does not keep them. His works are doomed for destruction.
Our God, however, is always faithful. When He says in vv. 10-11 that ‘He foils the plans of the nations and let His plan alone stand firm’ He really does. History is filled with God’s providential acts of triumph over the wicked plans and schemes of men and nations. You know how God frustrated the arrogant plans of the people in the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11). Their rebellious plan resulted to confusion and the formation of many nations.
Later these nations try to hinder God's sovereign plan to set apart a people for Himself, a holy nation that will worship Him and live under His sovereign rule. At first, Israel has greatly suffered under Egypt's tyranny and oppression. But God frustrates Pharaoh's plan to keep Israel in bondage, delivering her from the house of bondage.
Even the plans of the Canaanite nations to prevent Israel's entrance to the Promise Land did not succeed. God crushed the plans of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan. He blasted Balak's plan to destroy Israel.
So Biblical history proves that no one can outwit God. All the nations' plans did not materialize. God's plan, however, came through. For when He says He will do something He will really do it.
God is trustworthy. He towers high above the greatest and brightest of our rulers and politicians who fail to perform all their promises and assurances to the people. When God promises He swears to no one else except to Himself to confirm His word (Gen 22:16; Heb 6:13). He is faithful and true. II Corinthians 1:18-20 tells us that God’s promises to His people are fulfilled in the life and work of Jesus Christ for “all His promises are ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’ in Christ.” God never fails to fulfill His promises. Do you believe that?
This calls for a wholehearted trust to God on our part. God is praised when you and I believe in His promise of salvation and sanctification. Do you believe that by faith God saves you from eternal death and hell through Jesus Christ? Do you trust in God’s providential care even when you are financially broke or physically ill?
Those who are battling against illness and disease, do you really trust in God alone for the ultimate good of your body and soul? God is glorified when you say to Him, “Yes, Lord. I believe that You alone can save both my body and soul.”
Likewise, God is glorified when we remain faithful in our covenant relationship with Him. When God says, “Stop worrying for many things!” or “Seek first My kingdom and My righteousness and everything you need will be provided” do you argue with Him saying, “I try Lord but it’s hard not to worry. Besides, I want to be successful. I want to prove to my friends and family that I am not a disappointment.” When you say, “Lord, I’m not going to worry about anything anymore,” do you really keep your word?
Husbands, you praise God when you keep your marital commitment to love your wife in good times and in bad. The same thing for the wives. When you stick to your promise to remain faithful to your husbands, you honor the God who is faithful and true. Parents, you glorify God when you do what you have promised to do with your children. Likewise, children, you honor God when you do what you promised Mom and Dad to do.
Pastors and elders honor God when they keep their promise to nurture and protect the Lord's flock according to the Word of God.
When you disregard God’s commands and ignore His promises, you are really saying that He is not dependable. Yet you and I know that when we trust and obey the Lord in the home, in school, at work, in church and everywhere we glorify Him for we reflect His worth: His truthfulness and faithfulness.
In corporate worship, God invites us to come before His presence and be awed by His glory and majesty. As we listen to Him speaking through His life-giving Word, we respond in humility, confessing our unworthiness. We also respond in joyful thanksgiving to Him through our songs and prayers for all the good gifts He gives us through our Lord Jesus Christ.
In worshiping God, our highest aim is to magnify Him, to exalt His glory and all His wonderful attributes. It is not to entertain ourselves or make ourselves feel good. Yet in worshiping God, we find Him satisfying our deepest, most basic longing, that is, to glorify the One who is worthy of praise, the One who gives us life and its meaning.
When God’s people find themselves worshiping in His presence, God Himself finds them doing what is right for "praise is becoming to the upright" (Ps. 33.1). Praise is fitting to the saints of the Lord for that’s the reason why you and I were created.
Psalm 33 tells us that God’s people are called to praise God’s excellent qualities. It is one of Israel’s greatest hymns of praise. It opens with the psalmist’s five-fold summons to the gathered assembly of the righteous to praise the Lord. You and I ought to bow down before the Lord our God in humble worship. And the psalmist enumerates for us many reasons in praising God.
We will focus our meditation on verse 4, highlighting the truthfulness and faithfulness of God as reasons for praising Him.
In this psalm, the writer begins by summoning the gathered assembly of worshipers to praise God. Right at the very beginning, he tells the worshipers to sing joyfully to the Lord. Take note how the lyrics vividly express an exuberant note exalting the glories of the Lord.
This psalm boasts of God’s glorious perfections in His own being, in His mighty work in creation, and in His sovereign plan over all the earth, particularly over His own chosen people. It is clear that the word ‘for’ at the beginning of verse 4 connects the invitation to praise (vv.1-3) with the reasons for praising God. Just as the word of God is right and true and His work is always faithful, so is He, in His being.
God is not separated from what He does and what He says. He is, at the very core of His being, faithful and true. So His Word and works match with His character. Thus God cannot lie and does not tell a lie. When He makes promises, He fulfills them. When He speaks, He speaks the truth. When He does something, He does what is right.
Our God is trustworthy. He is dependable and consistent. Do you know who He stands in stark contrast with? The evil one! Yes, the devil fills the world with his lies and deceptions. He is a liar from the beginning. He is the father of lies. He makes lies appear as truth. He makes promises but does not keep them. His works are doomed for destruction.
Our God, however, is always faithful. When He says in vv. 10-11 that ‘He foils the plans of the nations and let His plan alone stand firm’ He really does. History is filled with God’s providential acts of triumph over the wicked plans and schemes of men and nations. You know how God frustrated the arrogant plans of the people in the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11). Their rebellious plan resulted to confusion and the formation of many nations.
Later these nations try to hinder God's sovereign plan to set apart a people for Himself, a holy nation that will worship Him and live under His sovereign rule. At first, Israel has greatly suffered under Egypt's tyranny and oppression. But God frustrates Pharaoh's plan to keep Israel in bondage, delivering her from the house of bondage.
Even the plans of the Canaanite nations to prevent Israel's entrance to the Promise Land did not succeed. God crushed the plans of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan. He blasted Balak's plan to destroy Israel.
So Biblical history proves that no one can outwit God. All the nations' plans did not materialize. God's plan, however, came through. For when He says He will do something He will really do it.
God is trustworthy. He towers high above the greatest and brightest of our rulers and politicians who fail to perform all their promises and assurances to the people. When God promises He swears to no one else except to Himself to confirm His word (Gen 22:16; Heb 6:13). He is faithful and true. II Corinthians 1:18-20 tells us that God’s promises to His people are fulfilled in the life and work of Jesus Christ for “all His promises are ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’ in Christ.” God never fails to fulfill His promises. Do you believe that?
This calls for a wholehearted trust to God on our part. God is praised when you and I believe in His promise of salvation and sanctification. Do you believe that by faith God saves you from eternal death and hell through Jesus Christ? Do you trust in God’s providential care even when you are financially broke or physically ill?
Those who are battling against illness and disease, do you really trust in God alone for the ultimate good of your body and soul? God is glorified when you say to Him, “Yes, Lord. I believe that You alone can save both my body and soul.”
Likewise, God is glorified when we remain faithful in our covenant relationship with Him. When God says, “Stop worrying for many things!” or “Seek first My kingdom and My righteousness and everything you need will be provided” do you argue with Him saying, “I try Lord but it’s hard not to worry. Besides, I want to be successful. I want to prove to my friends and family that I am not a disappointment.” When you say, “Lord, I’m not going to worry about anything anymore,” do you really keep your word?
Husbands, you praise God when you keep your marital commitment to love your wife in good times and in bad. The same thing for the wives. When you stick to your promise to remain faithful to your husbands, you honor the God who is faithful and true. Parents, you glorify God when you do what you have promised to do with your children. Likewise, children, you honor God when you do what you promised Mom and Dad to do.
Pastors and elders honor God when they keep their promise to nurture and protect the Lord's flock according to the Word of God.
When you disregard God’s commands and ignore His promises, you are really saying that He is not dependable. Yet you and I know that when we trust and obey the Lord in the home, in school, at work, in church and everywhere we glorify Him for we reflect His worth: His truthfulness and faithfulness.
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