Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 148:13,

“Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.”

In this psalm the writer encourages the praise of the Lord. Real worship found in the acts of God and in his character and nature. The psalmist enjoins all - in the heavens, angels and his heavenly hosts, the heights above, created objects as the sun, moon and stars, the clouds, sea creatures and the oceans themselves, the mountains, hills and trees, wild animals and cattle, birds and small creatures, kings and princes, and all people: young men, maidens, old men and children - to worship the Lord.

Why should they praise the Lord? Because he is the Creator and because he will raise up Jesus Christ, verse 14, “a horn”. In his creative acts and in his redemptive work in the person of Jesus Christ, the Lord’s splendor transcends all creation, “his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.” Herein lays one of the things that fascinate me about the Lord: his splendor. It is “above the earth and the heavens.” I take this to mean that his splendor transcends all of creation! There is nothing we can see, sense or be aware of from within God’s creation that can match the glorious splendor of our Lord! I can think of it, speak of it, meditate on it, and imagine it but I am thoroughly convinced that on the day of our Lord I will be saying to myself, “I had no idea - the magnitude and transcendence of the splendor of our Lord!!”

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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Worship for Today: God's love and faithfulness will fulfill his purposes for us!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 138:7-8,

“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.”

In this psalm David acknowledges to the Lord that the Lord himself fulfilled his purpose for David. Even though David walked “in the midst of trouble” the enduring love of the Lord preserved and saved David’s life.

Likewise we walk in the “midst of trouble”. We are the progeny of a sinful and lost people living in a fallen world. We are born into this world under the condemnation of God and subject to his judgment. We have enemies we face in the person of Satan, the opposition of the world and our own sin natures.

Along with David we can praise the Lord with all our hearts, verse one of this psalm, because of his love and faithfulness to us, verse two. He preserves our lives by making a way for us to an eternal home with him. He will fulfill his purposes for us! Though we face many adversaries and difficulties in this life he will see us safely home and not abandon the work of his hands he has accomplished in our lives! “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” Jude 24,25.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Worship for Today: It has pleased the Lord to vanquish our enemies!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 135:6,

“The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.”

As in Psalm 115:3 this psalm informs us that the Lord does what ever pleases him. It doesn’t matter where (the heavens, the earth or in the seas), he does whatever he pleases. In this psalm the acts of God against Israel’s enemies is what is contemplated here as what has pleased the Lord. Where other nations have idols that are really no gods at all, the God of Israel, the Creator, takes his vengeance against the enemies of his people and he vindicates his own.

As I consider it this morning, I am reminded of our enemies: Satan, the world and our own sin natures. Our heavenly father has provided us victory over these as he has vanquished them on our behalf. Here are a few verses that I get excited about:

I John 5:18-20,

“We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

1 John 4:4-5,

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Romans 7:24-8:4,

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”

Pretty exciting to contemplate what pleases the Lord and to see what he has done for us, isn’t it?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Woirship for Today: God does whatever pleases him!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 115:3,

“Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.”

Here is a short verse that always gets me to thinking about God in a variety of ways. It became something of a theme verse for us a couple of years ago as we started defining many things in terms of God doing whatever pleases him.

I always cringe whenever anyone says something on the order of “God can’t…” and you fill in the blank. Statements like “God can’t be around sinners”, etc. We might try to say it and yet look what he did… the Son of God came and lived with sinners for 33 years and in addition took all of the sin of mankind on his back and took our place of punishment. I think the best formula for making statements like that about God, which inject some much-needed humility on our part, would be better wording like, God has decided to…” and you fill in the blank.

I have to recognize that God is so much bigger than me, he is so far transcendent, I am unable to say for certain what it is that God can or can’t do! I do know for certain some of the things God has decided to do and what he has revealed himself to be in the pages of Scripture. So I know that he is faithful, he always keeps his promises, he is kind, merciful and loving. God is just and fair. He will require payment for all sin (yikes, and thanks be to God for sending his Son to take my place for punishment!) He will reward all who embrace Jesus Christ in faith with eternal life, eternal pleasures at his right hand (Psalm 16:11).

To me it is just awesome to think of our Creator God who is all powerful and sovereign over all and he does whatever pleases him! One of the difficult life-lessons I have had to learn is that he doesn’t check in with me first before he does whatever it is that pleases him. I embrace it, celebrate it and worship him for all those things he does that please him!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Worship for Today: Jesus Christ is our advocate before our heavenly Father!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 110:4,

“The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’”

The writer of Hebrews ascribes this passage to Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 6:19-20 we read, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Here the writer of Hebrews tells us Jesus Christ entered the “inner sanctuary behind the curtain” on our behalf!

Paul tells us in Romans 8:34, “Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” A priest is one who represents people to God. As a “priest forever” Jesus Christ will be eternally before our Creator God as our advocate!

Fascinating to think of, isn’t it?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Worship for Today: God provides release for those condemned to death!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 102:18-20,

“Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord: ‘The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.’”

This psalm, a lament of an afflicted man, holds an incredible gem in the middle of it. An oracle embedded within it is of such wonder and amazement it will result in praise to the Lord. A “people not yet created” will see an astonishing thing! Prisoners who groan will be released from their condemnation to death!

This passage brings to my mind Isaiah 9:2, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Also Jesus’ words in John 5:24-29, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”

The psalmist looks ahead to what God will do for us: he will send his Son to provide rescue for us from an eternity of death! Those of us who will believe in him will have eternal life! As prisoners of death we are freed to eternal life in the splendor of God’s great glory and majesty!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Worship for Today: The glory of the Lord is to be declared!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 96:3,

“Declare his [the Lord’s] glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.”

In this psalm of worship a number of things are pointed to as cause for worship:

His salvation, verse 2

His glory, verses 3 and 8

His marvelous deeds, verse 3

He is great, verse 4

He is worthy of praise, verse 4

He is fearsome, verse 4

He made the heavens, verse 5

Splendor and majesty are before him, verse 6

Strength and glory are in his sanctuary, verses 6 and 7

His holiness is splendorous, verse 9

He reigns, verse 10

He will judge the peoples with equity, verse10

He will judge the world in righteousness and truth, verse 13

Rich with observations of our wonderful Lord, this psalm leaves me without ever having to offer “empty praise”! If, for whatever reason, I find myself in a “dry spell” with the Lord, I need look no further than this psalm (and many others like it) to find plenty of cause for my worship of the Lord!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 92:1-3,

“It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.”

From the header to this psalm we learn it is a song for the Sabbath day, a song of worship. The writer points to two things in verse 2 that he bases worship on: the Lord’s love and the Lord’s faithfulness.

This morning as I think about the faithfulness of the Lord, I find it to be one of the qualities I cherish most of our Lord. There is much that can be said about having a Creator God who never changes and always follows through on what he says. What pleased him yesterday is what pleases him today. What he determined yesterday holds true today. What he promised yesterday is still his promise today.

What if God were ever-changing? What if one day he said we could be his children if we embraced Jesus Christ in faith and the next say that really wasn’t working for him and now we have to prove ourselves worthy by doing good works? What if God said he changed his mind about the things he has promised? What would our lives be like in a world controlled by a god like that?

But our God is not that way! Our God is never-changing and is faithful! One of the many wonderful aspects of his faithfulness has to do with his keeping us as his until the day of redemption and throughout eternity. 1 Corinthians 1:8-9 says, “He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” Paul points to the faithfulness of God himself: that is what guarantees me, as a child of God today, I will be always and absolutely nothing will ever change that. It doesn’t depend on what I do or anyone else: God is faithful and will bring me into his kingdom on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately

Worship for Today: Our resurrection is breathtaking to think of!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 71:20-23,

“Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again. I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you— I, whom you have redeemed.”

C.H. Spurgeon’s perspective is that this psalm was written by David in his old age, as he faced the end of his life. I suspect he is right. While we do not know for certain, we do know that the author of this psalm looked ahead to the resurrection. “you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.” The writer then looks to the faithfulness of God himself as the certainty of his pending resurrection, “I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God”.

Another theme in this quote is that the writer acknowledges the hardships of this life, “you have made me see troubles, many and bitter”. But the exciting reality is that these hardships of this life will give way to honor and comfort in the resurrection! The cause for this is his redemption. The writer, in this psalm of prayer to the Holy One of Israel, reminds him that he has redeemed him, “My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you- I, whom you have redeemed.”

And so it is with all of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith. Having lived our lives here in this fallen world existing under God’s judgment, saddled with our own sin nature and the collective sin nature of the world, we have certainly seen our share of troubles. But the sorrows, disappointments and failures of this life will break into the dawn of a new life for each of us in the resurrection! Because Jesus Christ has redeemed us from sin and God’s judgment we all now look forward to honor and comfort in the resurrection! Elsewhere we read of the exciting joy we will have of living our lives in the very presence of our Creator with eternal pleasures at his right hand, Psalm 16:11!

Breathtaking to think of!!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!

Trevor V. Fisk

(314) 814-8486

trevorf@gracehill.org

 

 

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This electronic transmission and any documents accompanying this electronic transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender. This information may contain confidential health information that is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this transmission is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to delete or destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or takinf of any action in reliance on or regarding the contents of this electronicallytransmitted information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this E-mail in error please notify the sender and delete this message immediately