Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 118:19-24,
 
"Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

 

To me, the temple gate, as access to God's presence in the temple, is a metaphor for our entrance into the kingdom of God. Righteousness is required, a currency hard to come by. Since we are all sinful, none of us are righteous and do not possess the currency to enter in.

 

Proverbs 11:4 tells us, "Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death." Since I lack righteousness as a sinner, what hope in life do I have? But, we read in Romans 3:21-25a, "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. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood."

 

As the psalmist says, "I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation." How wonderful! I have been made righteous through the stone the builders rejected, the capstone, Jesus Christ! I now have access to God and have gained entrance into the kingdom of God! What could be more wonderful than this?!

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