Let’s… keep going. Apparently I’m staying home today, and I could go back to my game, but fortunately, my mind is telling me there are better uses for my time.
I did mention I had a backlog, didn’t I?
Thank You, Lord, for the reading of Your Word.
Psalm 99
Praise to the LORD for His Holiness
1 The LORD reigns; Let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; Let the earth be moved!
2 The LORD is great in Zion, And He is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy.
4 The King’s strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His footstool— He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called upon His name; They called upon the LORD, and He answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them.
8 You answered them, O LORD our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
9 Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the LORD our God is holy.
Righteousness. Holiness. Forgiveness. Greatness, and glory. These are all the true nature of the One we call our God, the one true God. More than a concept, more than an ideal; More than a mere religious figure, He goes far above and beyond our own perspectives, and all that is attributed to Him can only be contained by Him – we can only go so far as to acknowledge and consequently trust in Him, or to flat out deny Him.
Our great and glorious God moves in authority, as He is our Creator; By Him our hearts are moved, as the mountains are moved.
He is good and gracious, as a Father – and by His name alone can we be in perfect peace. We have the freedom to place our trust in anything else, but everything else is creation – with a beginning and an end, with an origin and a limit.
It is actually through the limitations of creation that we ought to place our trust in our Creator even more. He is not merely stronger, wiser, greater; He is not a mere King, though kings have their own reasons to be exalted… but He is the King of Kings.
And, sure, God’s greatness ought to be more than enough for many to fall on their knees and exalt Him… But Paul said it best, when he said it is actually God’s goodness that leads men to repentance. Yeah, that’s what it is, huh? God’s greatness brings us to humility. God’s goodness leads us to repentance.
God’s goodness leads us to repentance. As of late I’ve been brought to realize that because only God is truly great, and because only God is truly glorious, then He bears the standard for genuine righteousness, and the right to uphold true justice.
Consequently, only God can serve true vengeance on all who come against Him… and, therefore, only God can serve true forgiveness for our shortcomings.
With this in mind, when we say that God is holy, we aren’t just saying He is ‘set apart’… That would probably pertain to us. No, God is thrice holy – that is, the angels declare Him as such – and He is not merely ‘set apart’, but ‘set above’.
Great in power, indeed. Gracious in compassion, as well.
Yes, we would do well, and it would never be a waste of time and resources for us to exalt Him… For He is holy. Set apart, and set above, yet willing to be with us, going so far as to die for us that we would be reconciled to Him.
All glory and power and honor ascribed to His name forever.
Psalm 98
A Song of Praise to the LORD for His Salvation and Judgment
A Psalm.
1 Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
I’m slowly crawling back. Inch by inch rising, word by word in acknowledgement to the Most High; For anyone who sings His praises shall not be put to shame, nor shall anyone who sings His praises stay down on the dirt.
Not for my merit, but for His glory. Indeed, let us join the rest of the body of Christ in proclaiming His finished work, and the marvelous things that follow. Indeed, as Solomon says God makes all things beautiful in His time, here we are agreeing with David, or whoever wrote this Psalm – God does marvelous things.
Let’s read that again, and let’s celebrate. God, our Father, makes all things that have happened beautiful, and He makes marvelous things happen, all in His time… and as we reflect on this, we are also brought to remember that it is all in line with how Paul says His glory is seen in all creation; that is, His glory is present in all things.
Yes, even in the darkness, even in the terror, even in the death, destruction and the disease, I have reason to believe that God is present – at the very least, by way of His Holy Spirit constantly and faithfully convicting us even during those times that we need help (sin), we can call upon His name (righteousness), and even this pain has an end and a conclusion (judgment).
Yes, friend! I have cause to say again: Even in the terror, the darkness, the death, destruction and disease, take heart! Call upon the name of the Lord, and behold: He shall uphold us with His righteous right hand, and He shall redeem us with His holy arm!
Yes! Let us cast our burdens upon Him, let us come to Jesus, and He will give us rest. Trust in Him, and know that we shall not be put to shame.
2 The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
The salvation that comes from our infinitely glorious and eternally gracious Father can only be as glorious and as gracious. It is such a great gift to behold and to receive. We have seen the goodness of the Lord, and we shall see it again and again, even in this existence, this reality slowly but surely heading into death and oblivion.
Yes! Let us cast our burdens upon Him, let us come to Jesus, who is God’s salvation freely given to us; and He will give us rest. Trust in Him, and know that we shall not be put to shame.
4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
5 Sing to the LORD with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.
7 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it;
8 Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together
9 before the LORD, For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.
The heavens and the earth revel in the goodness of the Lord, even in spite of how infected this reality is with sin and death. We, as new creations in Christ, can only follow suit – we sing in our trials, we rejoice as we bear the burdens of this existence. We shout – yes, we shout joyfully, making noise with the seas and the rivers! We flow with the waters, as we burst forth with rivers of living water.
Fellow brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, behold, our opportunity! For no matter where we are in life, no matter where we are, how old we are; No matter where we think we stand, or what status the world gives us, we all have the opportunity to celebrate our salvation, to behold the righteousness and justice of God, to take in the grace and goodness of our Father, all guaranteed by Christ, His Son and our Savior; and as we do, I have no doubt that we shall behold great and marvelous things happening, even in this impossibly dreary and dark existence – all for our good and for the good of those who love Him, for the unity of His body, for the expansion of His kingdom, and for the glory of His name!
Halleluyah, and amen!
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