Tuesday, January 15,
2013, 3:18 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Our Awesome God” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, your words to my
heart. I read Psalm 138 (NIV 1984):
I will praise you, O
Lord, with all my heart;
before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
I will bow down toward
your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted
above all things
your name and your word.
When I called, you
answered me;
you made me bold and stouthearted.
May all the kings of
the earth praise you, O Lord,
when they hear the words of your mouth.
May they sing of the
ways of the Lord,
for the glory of the Lord is great.
Though the Lord is on
high, he looks upon the lowly,
but the proud he knows from afar.
Though I walk in the
midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your
hand against the anger of my foes,
with your right hand you save me.
The Lord will fulfill
his purpose for me;
your love, O Lord, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
With all my
heart
What
does it mean to do something with all our hearts? It means to do something “very
earnestly; fully; completely; devotedly” (thefreedictionary.com). The heart is “the
source and center of emotional life, where the deepest and sincerest feelings
are located and a person is most vulnerable to pain; affection, love, or warm
admiration; spirit - the capacity for courage and determination” (Encarta
Dictionary). “All” means “whole of.” So, to praise the Lord with all my heart
means that I choose to praise the Lord with the entirety of my being, including
with my thoughts, words, and actions, as well as with my emotions, courage and
determination. And, I choose to remain in that attitude of praise no matter the
circumstances of my life, or how I am feeling in my emotions, or how tired I
might be. I am not there all the time, but it is my heart’s goal and desire to
always praise my Lord.
I bow down
I
think we often have this image of praise as being done in an upright position
with hands held high, smiles on our faces, happiness in our hearts, and with
much enthusiasm. And, that is certainly one aspect of praise. Yet praise of our
Lord is not always “happy, happy,” but sometimes it is with great heaviness and
solemnity of heart and mind.
The
word “bow” carries with it the idea of humility, submission, reverence and deep
prayer, often with tears, yet we can still praise our Lord with tears streaming
down our faces, and with heaviness of heart due to sorrow, pain, sadness, or suffering,
etc. We can praise him even when we don’t feel like it, because praise is a
choice of the will as much as it is an expression of gratitude, thankfulness,
and joy in our hearts because of all that God has done for us and for all that
he is. His holy temple is within our hearts, so we bow to our Lord in yielding
our lives over to him to be a holy temple fit for his dwelling (see Rom.
12:1-2).
Love and
Faithfulness
The
psalmist said he praised the name of God for God’s love and his faithfulness. A
person’s name is symbolically connected with his authority, character,
reputation, promises or standing. People in Bible times were often given names
that revealed something about their character or personality or calling. We don’t
do that often today, yet I do believe God guides our parents’ minds in choosing
names for us, because I believe God has a specific name for each one of us, and
perhaps our names, in some way or another, may still say something about who we
are and/or about God’s calling on our lives.
In
the Bible, God has many names in the Hebrew and Greek languages, but in English
we translate many of them as just “God,” so we miss the character traits of God
associated with his divine names when we merely call him “God,” I believe. Each
of his names tells some aspect of his divine character and will. So, when we
praise his name, we are praising those various aspects of his divine character
and attributes. Elohim means “creator and judge,” El is “might, strength and
power,” Adonai means “Master and Lord,” as well as in English God is referred
to as our Savior, Redeemer, Lord, Messiah, the Lamb of God, the lion of Judah,
the King of kings and Lord of lords, et al. [Source: hebrew4christians.com]
As
well, our God is a triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so those are his
three main names listed in the New Testament, although the Old Testament, as
well, often referred to God in terms associated with his triune nature. Yet,
each of these three names and distinct beings also have other names that reveal
the various aspects of their character, such as Redeemer, judge, ruler, King,
Lord, Savior, Messiah, counselor, sustainer, etc. So, when we praise the “name”
of God, we should praise him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as judge, ruler,
King, Lord and Savior, as comforter, counselor, guide and helper, and as
healer, sustainer, protector and deliverer, etc.
Above All
Our
God is the creator of the universe. He is all powerful, all knowing, and is
present everywhere at all times. All things exist by him and are sustained by
him and by his powerful word. Nothing can happen without his permission. He is
absolutely sovereign over all things in heaven and on the earth and under the
earth. So nothing is too big for God or too hard for him. He should not be our
last resort when all else fails, but he should be the first one we go to with
the situations, questions and problems of our lives. He is completely loving,
compassionate, merciful, gracious and faithful in all his promises, so we can
trust him completely to be who he says he is and to do what he says he will do.
Yet,
although our God is on high and he is all powerful and all good, he cares about
us, and he looks with favor upon the humble and repentant of heart, but he
distances himself from the proud and haughty of heart who have no regard for
God. In other words, there is sweet fellowship between God and his true
followers, but there is no fellowship (communion) between our Lord and those
who refuse to walk in his ways; who still live in willful sin (see 1 Jn.). When
the repentant sinner calls, God answers. When those who walk in his ways call
upon him, he hears and he responds (see John 15; 1 John). And, he gives us
strength, courage, and boldness to share his gospel and to stand on what we
believe.
He fulfills his
purpose
“Though
I walk in the midst of trouble,” the Lord preserves my life. He preserves my
relationship with him through giving me salvation, through providing the
spiritual armor I need with which to fight off Satan’s attacks against me, he
gives me his joy, peace, strength and willpower to keep going, he gives me
grace and mercy in times of weakness, he lifts me up when I fall, he
encourages, rebukes, corrects and trains me in righteousness, and he provides
his love, nurturing, comfort, counsel, guidance and direction so that I might
follow him in all of his ways (in his thoughts, attitudes, will, purpose and
direction for my life). He may not deliver me out of trouble (hardships,
difficulties, sorrow or pain), but he will preserve me for eternity “though I
walk in the midst of trouble.” Amen!
Jesus
Christ died on the cross for our sins so that we could be free of the ultimate
penalty of sin (eternal damnation), so we could be free from bondage to
(slavery to) sin on a day-to-day basis, and so we could be free to walk in
Christ’s righteousness in obedience to him. His purpose for us is that we leave
our lives of sin behind us, we are transformed in heart and mind by the mighty
working of the Holy Spirit of God within us, that we follow Jesus Christ
wherever he leads us, and that we are made to be new creatures in Christ Jesus,
“created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Eph. 4:17-24;
Luke 9:23-25).
It
is also his purpose for us that we are his witnesses for the gospel of Jesus
Christ (see Acts 1:8), that we make disciples of Christ of all nations,
baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded us (see
Matt. 28:19-20), that we demonstrate our love for God through obedience to his
commands and through loving our brothers (see 1 John), and that we give our lives
to him fully committed to his will and his ways for our lives (see Rom.
12:1-2). He will fulfill his purpose for us if we will yield to his will and
surrender our wills to the will of the Father, humbly, submissively, and
lovingly.
May all the
kings
This
psalm is not only a song of praise to our God for who he is and for all that he
has done for us on our behalf, but it is a call for the rulers of this earth,
and all that are proud and haughty of heart and who think they are “gods” to
also bow down to God, humbly, submissively and with full surrender to God and
to his will and ways for their lives. This is not merely a call for them to
sing songs of praise, but for them to praise God by walking in his ways and in
the light of his truth. Yet, this call is not merely to kings and rulers but to
all people on the face of this earth. May we all give all our hearts to God –
Father, Son and Holy Spirit – in praise and singing, in worship and adoration,
and in giving our lives completely over to God for him to fulfill his purposes
for us.
Our Awesome God / An Original
Work / May 25, 2011
I praise and
adore You, Father,
I worship and
praise You, Lord.
You are such an
awesome God,
Who loves us so
much, You implore
Us to follow
You each moment
Of the days we
have on earth,
So that we
might live forever
With You,
‘cause of our new birth.
I praise and
adore You, Jesus.
You died on a
cruel tree,
So that we
might be forgiven
Of our sins;
You set us free
To love and obey
You only,
While we bow on
bended knee,
As we humbly
walk before You,
Serving freely;
You to please.
I praise and
adore You, Spirit,
You came in to
live with me.
Jesus sent You
to abide
Within us, and
our comfort be.
You guide and
direct and counsel
Us in all of
our God’s ways,
So that we can
live for Jesus,
To follow Him
all our days.
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