Worship for Today: The Lord is to be praised for raising up Jesus Christ!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 148:14,

"He [the Lord] has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lord."

 

In this wonderful psalm all of creation is called to praise the Lord. From the heavens, the Lord's angels and heavenly hosts, the sun and moon, all the stars, the heavens, the clouds. The earth is also enjoined to praise the Lord, the sea creatures, the oceans, lightning, hail, snow, stormy winds, the mountains and hills, fruit trees and cedars. The wild animals and cattle, small creatures and birds, kings, princes, all the rulers and all the nations of the earth are called to praise the Lord. Both old and young men, maidens and children are to as well.

 

And what is it they are all called to praise the Lord for? Because he commanded and they were all created, verse 5. They were provided a place of permanence in his creation, verse 6. The Lord's name is exalted, verse 13, and his splendor transcends, or is above the earth and the heavens. But the crowning cause for the praise of the Lord is saved for the end, he has raised up a horn for his people.

 

As the footnote provided in the NIV says, "horn" here symbolizes "strong one", "king". The Lord has raised up a king for his people. Spoken of as a deed already accomplished, here is the ultimate cause that should fuel our praise of the Lord! This one, the praise of all the Lord's saints is Jesus Christ himself! No other cause is needed to find reason to worship and praise our Lord! 

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

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Learning of the Lord is a delightful passion!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 145:3,
 
"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom."

 

This psalm of David celebrates the goodness and compassion of the Lord. It is due to the very nature of the Lord that David finds worth that is worthy of praise. The greatness of the Lord transcends our ability to comprehend, "his greatness no one can fathom."

 

David speaks of the glorious splendor of the Lord's majesty and his wonderful works, his grace and compassion, that he is slow to anger and rich in love. David observes that the Lord is close to all who call on him in their need, that he hears their cries, saves them and fulfills their desires.

 

As I think this morning that this is the same Lord I love, that he has not changed over the millennia since David's time and that he never will, I find it a wonderful thing to know him and to learn more of him. Learning of the Lord is certainly a delightful passion!
 
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: On Vacation!

Note: I'll be on vacation for the next two weeks so you may not hear from me much. See you all in two weeks!

 

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 57:3,
 

"He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; God sends his love and his faithfulness."

 

As in many of the psalms that David wrote, Psalm 57 is one where David cries out to God in the midst of danger. He exalts God for his love and faithfulness which God sends from heaven. It is these wonderful qualities of God David identifies that brings God's deliverance of him.

 

As I think of these two qualities of God, his love and faithfulness, I can't help but think of how wonderful they go together! John tells us that God is love in 1 John 4:8.16. God has expressed his love to us in providing his Son to take the punishment for our sin, delivering us. Paul tells us in Romans 5:8, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

 

As I consider that, I think of how important it is that his love be expressed to us often and without fail. What good is love if it is only a sometimes thing? An unreliable expectation? What if we didn't know if God's love would be there for us tomorrow. Herein I find God's faithfulness such a wonderful complement to his love! We will never find God's love failing us because it is a certain and reliable love - a faithful love!
 
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God loves mankind in spite of his sinfulness!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 53:1-3,
 
"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one."

 

The sinfulness of mankind is just astonishing. We are all born into life separated from God and under his condemnation. We live in an estrangement to him driven by a sinful nature. We are rebellious and have gone our own way. We are so far removed from God and our understanding of him that he has had to give mankind the law - the ten commandments in particular - to demonstrate to us we are not like him and in horrific need of salvation. Paul quotes this passage in Romans 3 to point out that all fall short of God's glory and are in need righteousness.

 

Another perspective on this is that it helps us to understand the depth of the great mercy, kindness and love God has for us. Just as astonishing that we are so sinful as a race of people is that God loves people like us so much he was willing to send his Son to die a miserable death to provide us access into his family! In light of our rejection of the notion of God's very existence, our corruption and vile lifestyles, how is it that God loves us? Why would he pursue us? Why would he sacrifice his Son to satisfy his own justice so that we could be free to enjoy life with him in the resurrection?

 

I confess that I will never understand this. I only know that this is the case. We call it God's grace and for those of us who have availed ourselves of his atonement for our sins, we will enjoy this love of our Creator for an eternity!
 
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God sent his Son as our refuge and strength!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 46:1-3,

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."

 

God is our refuge and strength! It is often said that people turn to Jesus Christ because they are weak and unable to face the challenges in life. Where others face life boldly and feel no need for a "crutch", Christians turn to God for a refuge and strength.

 

How true! I openly confess I have  a great need for a refuge and strength! To me it is a question of our grasp on reality. We all face death. Following death is a certain judgment we all face for sin in our lives. Who among mankind will stand strong against the Judge at the Great White Throne judgment? Better have a refuge and strength there!

 

And how strong this refuge and strength is! His strength is clearly illustrated on the canvas of our weakness. We didn't bring ourselves to life. We don't provide the environment that allows life to exist on planet earth. We cannot keep ourselves from death. We cannot save ourselves from the fury of the wrath of God Almighty, Revelation 19:15. We cannot provide ourselves with a future on the other side of the resurrection! Just who do those who feel they don't need a "crutch" in life think they are kidding?!

 

In psalm 46, the sons of Korah speak of the Lord as a refuge and strength in cataclysm, not in terms of having a bad hair-day. One day we will all look for a refuge as that lake of fire looms as a pending disaster poised to consume us! How wonderful our God has sent his Son Jesus Christ as our refuge and strength!
 
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: I exist for God's purposes!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 44:22,
 
"Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

 

Here is something that most of us struggle with in our understanding of God and life in general. My Creator has given me life but life is not all about me. Life is not about my agenda, my purposes, my pleasure or my will. I struggle with the notion that I am not the center of the universe. I struggle with the notion that life is not all about me and that God does not exist for my happiness, my success and my fulfillment in life!

 

In this psalm the sons of Korah make a startling observation: they are suffering at the hand of God for no fault of their own! In a rare instance in Israel's history, if we believe what we are told in this psalm, Israel is not experiencing judgment from God for sin as they struggle with difficulty God has brought to them. In verses 17-21 we read, "All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant. Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path. But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals and covered us over with deep darkness. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?" Israel was suffering at the hand of God for no cause of their own: "you crushed us".

 

I often think that what I experience in life is due to how I live my life. After all we are told that a man reaps what he sows. While this is true, it is not all there is to life. Paul quotes our verse here in Romans 8:36 where he explains to us that as we endure hardships in this life in the process of being conformed to the likeness of his Son, we are subject to what God brings into our lives. In that passage Paul is careful to point to the fact that in the very pain we experience at God's hand, he loves us as he fulfills his purpose for our lives. Without asking if we are interested, God begins the painful process of changing us from within. And, no matter the danger we face, we will never be separated from the love of God.

 

I can think of other reasons people have suffered at God's hand for no fault of their own. Many of the prophets, John the Baptist, Stephen, Paul and the other apostles, all suffered due to God's purposes and agenda. Does this make God unjust or does it indicate he has a malevolent streak? Not at all! God pursues his own agenda! He pursues his own purposes! As he reveals himself to us in the pages of Scripture we find that our God is a loving, merciful and kind God. He is just, righteous and fair. In the midst of God carrying out his purposes he has used people to accomplish what he has desired to do. Because of what I have learned of God, I am quite convinced that although many of these folks had their lives expended for God's purposes, and at times in very painful ways, God will reward them richly in the resurrection.

 

God is about things that are bigger than me, things that transcend my perspective on what I might consider to be happy and fulfilling for my life. All of us, no matter who we are, face death all day long for God's sake; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. God does not exist for my purposes, my agenda. It is the other way around!
 
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God provides access to his mercy and grace in our time of need!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 38:18-22,

 
"I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin... O Lord, do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God. Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior."

 

In this psalm David speaks of his guilt, verse 4, and that he is therefore suffering from God's wrath, verse 3. As he experiences the difficulties the Lord has brought into his life, represented by both his failing health and his enemies, he asks the Lord not to forsake him. Even his friends and neighbors have deserted him, verse 11 and in his desperation, as cast in the last verse, "Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior", he pleads with the Lord in the first verse, "do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath."

 

Sin has this devastating effect on us all. Jesus reminded us that we reap what we sow. Sin has its consequences. The writer of Hebrews, in 12:7-11, talks of God disciplining us for our own good, that we might share in his holiness and how painful that process is.

 

In this midst of this, however, God wants us to know of his love for us as his children. Our God is holy and righteous, and yet he has made us sinners holy as well. The writer of Hebrews tells us, "by one sacrifice he [Jesus Christ] has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." Hebrews 10:14. Because of this we can approach God with confidence, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16.

 

How wonderful that when we find ourselves beset by sin and begin to feel as David did, "troubled by my sin", our Lord provides us access to him so that we "may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."!

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

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: The Lord owns it all!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 24:1-2,
 

"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters."

 

I wonder, as our culture rages in its squabbles over whether creationism should be taught in the public schools, whether nativity scenes should be allowed in the public squares, whether "In God We Trust" continues to be minted on our currency or pre-game prayer should be allowed for the local high school team, the Lord shakes his head in astonishment at the collective ignorance of mankind of his Creator. Maybe his anger is kindled at the obstinate refusal of many to acknowledge him or maybe he just sits in heaven and laughs as we read of in Psalm 2:4, "The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them."

 

In Psalm 24 David points out that the creation belongs to the Lord. After all, he created it: it is his! Every man, woman and child, all of the world's resources, all of mankind's intellectual property, all of the gizmos and gadgets of technology, everything in the earth is the Lord's! As mankind scurries about, wasting precious time and resources to lay temporary claim to all he can, he overlooks the reality that in short order he will leave it all behind, he never owned any of it, he only used it for a season.

 

I am reminded of the man who forgot he belonged to the Lord and was consumed with what he thought belonged to him. In Luke 12:16-20 we read, "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

 

As the Creator of all, the Lord is due my acknowledgment of him as well as all I have and all I am. After all, the end of the matter is that we will all bow to our Lord in the end. We read in Psalm 22:27-29, "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive."

 

It matters not whether one acknowledges the Lord or not, What is, is! And as I read it in Psalm 24, it all belongs to the Lord!
 
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

--
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: The law of the Lord is perfect!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 19:7,
 
"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple."

 

In this verse, David tells us four things about the law of the Lord: it is perfect, it revives the soul, it is trustworthy and it makes the simple wise. How many things in this life accomplishes so much? This is because the law of the Lord comes from him. It is not something mankind made up, as is much of religion these days. We read in Isaiah 55:10-11, "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Such is the law the Lord has given: it accomplishes what he desires and achieves the purpose for which he sent it.

 

What is it the Lord seeks to accomplish with the law, its purpose? We read in Romans 7:7-8, "I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, 'Do not covet.' But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire." Its purpose is to show us just how sinful we all are and demonstrate to us our need of being saved from God's wrath for sin. We read in Galatians 3:24, "So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith." Paul puts it this way in Romans 3:20, "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."

 

Here we see how the Lord's perfect law revives the soul. It quickens us to the realization we need the righteousness that Jesus Christ makes available to us through faith that we not face the Lord's own judgment for our sin. We can trust the law to make us wise by awakening us out of the stupor of the complacency of our lives: we need to prepare for what lies beyond the grave for each one of us!

 

How wonderful the Lord has provided us the law so that through it we are prepared for the opportunity afforded to us through the gospel!
 
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

--
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Righteousness provides us entrance into heaven!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 15:1-5,
 
"Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? ... He who does these things will never be shaken."

 

This of course is the question of the ages: who will find themselves in heaven, escaping God's judgment and enjoying all that will be ours as his children, when all is said and done? Who will acquire eternal life on the other side of the resurrection? The intervening sentence between verses 1 and 5b provides the answer, and it is not hopeful for anyone! "He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent."

 

The very first hoop dismisses us all, "He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous..." Who qualifies here? I certainly don't. I'm not one who has ever been accused of being blameless. As a matter of fact, when the question arises, as to "who done it?", it is usually assumed to be me! As the law does so well, this psalm tells us of our desperate need of salvation.

 

When it comes to the currency that can buy our way into heaven, we read in Proverbs 11:4, "Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death." It is righteousness that can bring us to heaven after our time is up, here on planet earth. As Psalm 15 so effectively points out, we all have a problem. None of us are righteous and we are all facing God's inevitable judgment in the lake of fire!

 

But there is good news! The gospel tells us a righteousness from God is available! If we embrace Jesus Christ in faith we can recieve this precious currency of righteousness from God himself! "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." Romans 3:21-22. The man that possesses righteousness gains access to heaven after death! We all can have this righteousness! God in his mercy has made it available to us through faith in his resurrected Son, Jesus Christ!
 
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

--
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God expresses his wrath every day!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 7:11,
 
"God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day."

 

From my perspective, any view of God that does not recognize this aspect of his character is incomplete. God has revealed himself in the pages of Scripture so that we may learn of him, what he is like, what his intentions are, what his agenda is. This is why we call Scripture, "revelation". It is within its pages that God reveals himself. Here in this passage we learn that God is a wrathful God, expressing his wrath as a righteous judge every day.

 

The writer of Hebrews admonishes us that it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, Hebrews 10:31. This is because our God is "a consuming fire", Hebrews 12:29, which is a quote from Deuteronomy 4:24, where Moses speaks to the Israelites about God's judgment in his anger toward Moses and the Israelites.

 

Unless I have full appreciation for the judgment of God and the wrath he expresses toward sin, I will not have full appreciation for what my Savior endured on the cross when he paid the penalty for my sin. I will not experience the full measure of gratitude for God's forgiveness, mercy and love if I do not recognize just what it is that Jesus Christ has saved me from.

 

When I hear the words, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.", Romans 5:8, I will fail to grasp just how important a demonstration this is unless I recognize the wrath of our righteous God in his judgment of our sin. God is a wrathful judge that will hold all accountable for sin. But in his kindness toward us, he sent his Son to take that punishment on our behalf! In the very present danger of God's wrath for our sin and our pending judgment in the lake of fire, our kind, loving and merciful God has made a way for us to become his children and experience his blessings instead, if we but embrace him in faith!

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

--
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com