Exclusivity is a necessity for worship.

For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 

Psalm 96:4-5

It seems to me that one element of worship is the celebration of the exclusivity of God. It is what His people have always praised about God. And this psalm unashamedly does so. It compares the mighty power of God to the worthlessness of idols. It calls the beliefs of others worthless. Yep. That's pretty intolerant, wouldn't you say?

The purpose of pointing out the worthless pursuit of idolatry is twofold: 1) it praises the God Who is Maker of all things and 2) it protects our hearts from temptations to idolatry. What we are most prone to do when we are not worshiping God is to worship something else. We were created to wroship. We are finite. And our hearts crave the "greater" since inately we know we are made for eternity. And we will foolishly worship the works of our hands, ascribing value beyond ourselves to them. That is exactly what an idol is.

Exclusivity protects us from sinful idolatry. The minute we stray from an exclusive worship of The Lord, we take away from our understanding of His majesty. And we make created things and man made things false gods. Worship The Lord. Worship Him alone. Only God is worthy. Only God is God. There is no other. 

sheep taking selfies

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. 

Psalm 95:6-7

Worship is supposed to be a humble act. It draws attention to the greatness of God. It pulls the spotlight off of ourselves. More and more we need to live in this humble worship of a great and mighty God Who is our Maker.

Our culture pressures us to take credit for ourselves. We now live in the self-aggrandizing photo essay known as Facebook and Instagram. We have become a generation "sharing" selfies (there is so much irony in that concept... "Here, let me give you this self-photographed photo of me that I really like!) We encourage this self-promotion with "likes" and commentary. And all the while, maybe not deliberately, we create a way to pull the spotlight away from the majesty of the Almighty!

But we are sheep. Dumb sheep that must be led, cared for by God at every point, and loved by our Shepherd. We are in need of the humble, pastoral view of worship to pervade our thinking and stop our self-portrait loving madness. Let's stop being sheep taking selfies! Let's worship The Lord, our God, our Maker.

insubstantial thoughts

He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge - the LORD - knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath. 

Psalm 94:10-11

Take the wisest, most industrious people of any generation and put them all together and their combined wisdom and intellect would not be more than few whisps of breath on a cold morning in comparison to the wisdom and knowledge of God. Einstein? ... an exhale. Mozart? ...a puff of carbon dioxide. Steve Jobs? ... a mere sigh. Gandhi? ...breath. Scientists on the Manhattan Project? The framers of the U.S. Constitution? Napoleon? Thomas Edison? Marie Curie? Marx? Bill Gates? Breath... all of them. Every one of them are just not even close to equaling the wisdom of the Almighty. Human knowledge is limited and always finite.

Ultimately, any philosophy or commitment to human reason for a life direction falls short. Our insight is always limited. Our capacities are finite. Yes, we can achieve amazing accomplishments that better lives, but none of them are as great as God is. He knows us, created us, sovereignly directs us, bestows abilities on us to do many things... sometimes amazing things in His image, and He is the judge of all people and the works that they do under His authority. It is best to live a life directed by God's wisdom, letting Him direct an intellect that can be motivated for His glory.

Lord,

I know nothing without You. My intellect is finite, limited, and flawed. Yours is infinite, eternal, holy, and perfect. Teach me. Show me Your wisdom, today and always. I know that my thoughts are mere breath. But You have the words of eternal life. In You I trust. Use my intellect and my thoughts, the most essential thing that is me, for Your work!

Amen

why I trust

Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore. 

Psalm 93:5

I have read

the words

You have said

majesty

meets with

what's trustworthy

holy truth tests

my life

puts troubles to rest

mightier than flood

waters roll

cleansed by holy blood

true to Your Word

in promises

that command me, Lord

I trust and obey

this truth

finding You at work today

so practical

is Your Word

not merely useful

truth for my deep need

I find

and worship You indeed

7 days a week

How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep! 

Psalm 92:5

In the title of this psalm we are given the occassion for its use. It is a psalm for the Sabbath Day. It was meant to celebrate the day of rest that God commanded for His people. They ceased from all work in order to worship Him. And this song became part of that experience.

While ceasing from their work, the children of Israel sang of the works of The Lord. Taking a break, they broke into song. Resting in God became active celebration. They purposefully pondered the Person of their praise and prospered under God's provision. It was not that the Sabbath was a requirement solely by command, but rather that it was a reason to celebrate and to remember God's care for all seven days of the week.

God always does amazing things, but we may not always recognize Him. God's thoughts are important to us. It is crucial that we know Him. Sabbath was a time to read His Word, reflect on His Truth, and know the mind of God so that worship and direction could sustain spiritual maturity. Without sleep our health declines... our minds will slip. Without rest the strength of our bodies will fail. Without a quiet worship-filled break to rest and honor God, our souls will burn out.

O Lord,

Your ways are mighty. Your work is profound. You have saved me and You provide for me. And all that I have... family, home, friends, or the fellowship of Your Church... all of them are Your great work given by Your gracious and unfathomable wisdom. The depths of Your work and Your thoughts to me are beyond me still. Thank You, Lord!

Amen

No Fear. Trust.

You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

Psalm 91:5-6

Faith that is strengthened in real relationship with an Almighty God cannot simultaneously live in fear of the things of this world. It knows a loving assurance in the trust placed in a sovereign, loving, and wise God. And it can lean back on Him as events around life keep the soul close to The Lord.

Faith exists at all times, not just when it is convenient, not for a show in public worship but in the depths of the thoughts of the inner person. That is why we can handle more than we realize we can. Arrows may fly by day, but God is our shield and refuge. Terrors may come at night, but God is our joy and our song. Pestilence stalks the darkness to strike without warning, yet God is a protector and our healer. Tragedy could strike in the middle of any day at any time, but faith will take us beyond it all. The threats are real, but the faith is too. The causes for fear may never go away, but neither will our God!

Faith that is real faith will be known in these ways. It will find love and relationship with God that is greater than any of our fears. It will trust. And none of those fears is greater than God. The sum of all fears cannot come close to the overwhelming peace of God that surpasses all understanding!

what really amazes me about God

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 

Psalm 90:2

This song proclaims the one unique reality of God that I find the most fascinating. It is His eternality. I can sort of fathom the eternal nature of God... in a way. When I think about my own soul continuing after death, I have no problem accepting that, even though I cannot really know it until it happens. There is a part of the soul that instinctively believes that it lives on. 

But the eternality of God is vastly different. I can accept entering life as a baby and living, then entering eternal life after death in this world. But God was never born. He always is. From everlasting past to an everlasting future He (present tense) IS God. That is where my mind starts grasping at and losing the threads of the thoughts about God's self-existence. I can run the time arrow forward from the present and sort of grasp an eternal future. But to do so while simultaneously running back in time FOREVER... whew! The mental exercise is amazingly mind-blowing! Theology gets psychodelic.

God's constant existence is unique. I believe it and I hold to it. It is revealed by Him for us to believe and to know. And in the hands of the great I Am (the always present One), my future is secure. The universe had its beginning in the word of God. A universe that is so big that we cannot fathom all of it was really just one of God's thoughts. Yet God always is. The very elements of the physical heavens and earth will one day be burned up and even remade. But God just... is... the unchanging, constant, consistent, loving Creator and Controller of forever past and present.