The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 92:4-5,
"For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done. How great are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts!"
This psalm of worship begins with a reflection of how good it is to praise the Lord. The goodness of that praise is clearly seen in the observations the psalmist makes of the Lord:
The Lord's love, verse 2.
The Lord's faithfulness, verse 2.
The Lord's deeds that make the psalmist glad and joyful, verse 4.
The Lord's great works, verse 5.
The Lord's profound thoughts, verse 5.
The wonderful things the Lord has done for the psalmist: exalting his "horn" (strength), blessings likened to having fine oil poured on him by the Lord, defeat of his adversaries and wicked foes, verses 9-11.
Here is a wonderful psalm that teaches about true worship- as opposed to "empty worship." The psalmist is not simply walking around saying "Praise the Lord!". He observes and celebrates specifically the things the Lord has done, what he is like and the things the Lord has done for him personally. It is these things that provide the basis for his worship.
It is informed worship. It is worship that is spawned from his learned observations about the Lord. What a far cry from those today who sputter, "Praise the Lord!" as if it were some kind of punctuation.
I am convinced that the most meaningful worship, both for the worshipper (us) and the worshipped (the Lord), is informed worship. Worship that flows from both the reading, memorizing and meditating of God's word that reveals himself to us as well as his activities on our lives.
Real and meaningful worship of God does not have its origin in the practice sessions of a worship team with their musical instruments to lead others in song on Sunday morning! Real and meaningful worship of God has its origin in the informed reverence and celebration of those who have taken the time to learn of the Lord, to get to know him in the pages of Scripture and have reflected upon him throughout the week.
Someone might argue, "Reading and studying Scripture really isn't my thing." Really? Why do you suppose God went to so much effort to provide them to us today? "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17. It is that teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness that ought to form the basis of our worship of the Lord. It is the fruit of that desire to know everything we can about our Lord that ought to form the basis of our worship of him.
The psalmist does not engage in "empty worship" of the Lord. He has taken time to know him, he has taken time to reflect on him. Getting to know the Lord always results in our worship of him, and we can't know him as well as we should without investing that time in the reading and meditating in Scripture and reflecting all he has done in our lives.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done. How great are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts!"
This psalm of worship begins with a reflection of how good it is to praise the Lord. The goodness of that praise is clearly seen in the observations the psalmist makes of the Lord:
The Lord's love, verse 2.
The Lord's faithfulness, verse 2.
The Lord's deeds that make the psalmist glad and joyful, verse 4.
The Lord's great works, verse 5.
The Lord's profound thoughts, verse 5.
The wonderful things the Lord has done for the psalmist: exalting his "horn" (strength), blessings likened to having fine oil poured on him by the Lord, defeat of his adversaries and wicked foes, verses 9-11.
Here is a wonderful psalm that teaches about true worship- as opposed to "empty worship." The psalmist is not simply walking around saying "Praise the Lord!". He observes and celebrates specifically the things the Lord has done, what he is like and the things the Lord has done for him personally. It is these things that provide the basis for his worship.
It is informed worship. It is worship that is spawned from his learned observations about the Lord. What a far cry from those today who sputter, "Praise the Lord!" as if it were some kind of punctuation.
I am convinced that the most meaningful worship, both for the worshipper (us) and the worshipped (the Lord), is informed worship. Worship that flows from both the reading, memorizing and meditating of God's word that reveals himself to us as well as his activities on our lives.
Real and meaningful worship of God does not have its origin in the practice sessions of a worship team with their musical instruments to lead others in song on Sunday morning! Real and meaningful worship of God has its origin in the informed reverence and celebration of those who have taken the time to learn of the Lord, to get to know him in the pages of Scripture and have reflected upon him throughout the week.
Someone might argue, "Reading and studying Scripture really isn't my thing." Really? Why do you suppose God went to so much effort to provide them to us today? "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17. It is that teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness that ought to form the basis of our worship of the Lord. It is the fruit of that desire to know everything we can about our Lord that ought to form the basis of our worship of him.
The psalmist does not engage in "empty worship" of the Lord. He has taken time to know him, he has taken time to reflect on him. Getting to know the Lord always results in our worship of him, and we can't know him as well as we should without investing that time in the reading and meditating in Scripture and reflecting all he has done in our lives.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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