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