Worship for Today: If the Lord had not been on my side...

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 124:2,

"If the Lord had not been on our side when... "

In this psalm of ascents by David, a psalm most likely written for
worshipping pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem for one of the
annual celebrations of the Lord, the Lord's help is acknowledged for
keeping Israel from disaster. David speaks of military foes who would
surely have consumed the Lord's people if the Lord had not been on
their side. David says in verse 8, "Our help is in the name of the
Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

I say the same thing:
If the Lord had not been on my side, I would be consumed by my sin.
If the Lord had not been on my side I would be facing his horrific judgment.
If the Lord had not been on my side I would be living in a lost
darkness, not understanding the forces of evil that would hound my
every step.
If the Lord had not been on my side I would not have a wonderful,
exciting hope in the resurrection of life lived in communion with him
and the rest of you.
If the Lord had not been on my side I would be living life on my own
without the companionship and wonderful comfort the Holy Spirit
provides me.
If the Lord had not been on my side...

Why has the Lord been on my side? I don't have a clue. I call it grace
and marvel that he has chosen to provide his Son, Jesus Christ, to die
a horrible death that I might become his child. What a love our Lord
has that he even considered this and then brought it about! What a
love our Lord has that he has invited me to be family!

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: This is the day the Lord has made!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 118:24,

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

I am of the persuasion that the existence of the cosmos is dependant
from moment to moment on the active effort of the Lord to maintain it.
From my perspective the universe, all of the celestial bodies, the
world and all in it, all of what compromises existence in this life,
would cease to exist if the Lord simply withdrew his hand to extend it
from moment to moment. As Creator, the Lord has no need, no dependency
on its existence, but his creation is entirely and utterly dependent
on him. As such, each breath we breathe is an extension of the grace
of God in that existence continues. And after we leave this life, our
existence continues, as surely as we exist in this life today, from
moment to moment because it is the Lord's pleasure to continue it. The
wonderful good news is that the Lord offers his invitation of life
eternal to us all.

Such thoughts are quite sobering to me as I don't often think in terms
of the existence of all things dependent on one person. But what a
person this is! All of existence came at his good pleasure and he has
told us that it is his pleasure to provide an eternity for all who
will come to him in faith. With a desire to create beings of free will
that he could fellowship with, he brought all into existence. John
tells us this is the very one that believers have fellowship with,
"Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." 1
John 3b. John also tells us that it is the Son of God who is the
creative agent of the Trinity. "Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and
that life was the light of men." John 1:3-4. The writer of Hebrews
tells us it is the Son of God who maintains all things, "The Son is
the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word." Hebrews 1:3a.

Today is a new day, another new day the Lord has made. A new gift from
our loving Creator! How can we not rejoice and be glad in this
wonderful gift of life, of existence he has given us?!

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 is due thanksgiving and praise for his wonderful acts!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 105:1-5,

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the
nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all
his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those
who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his
face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the
judgments he pronounced."

The psalmist tells us to thank the Lord as we call on his name. Thanks
can only be legitimately offered by one who experiences a level of
appreciation for something done on his or her behalf. The level or
intensity of thankfulness can be measured by how highly esteemed the
deed done is to the one giving thanks. In this psalm the deeds of the
Lord done on behalf of the nation of Israel are in view as the cause
of thankfulness. The Lord fulfills his covenant he made with Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. He provided protection for the patriarchs and a
forerunner for them in Joseph when they sought refuge in Egypt from
famine. The Lord prospered Israel there and eventually brought them
out of their bondage in Egypt. The Lord then provided them the land of
Canaan as their inheritance from the Lord so they could enjoy what
others had worked hard to provide.

I go into this detail to note that the psalmist here follows his own
counsel. He says to "remember the wonders he has done, his miracles
and the judgments he pronounced." Verse 5. This is no mere exercise
for a history student but is to be a pursuit that is marked by
glorying in the Lord, verse 3. With this there should be that which is
heartfelt: rejoicing, verse 3, thanksgiving and praise, verses 1,2 and
45.

The church is told to do the same thing. In Colossians 3:2-3, "Set
your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and
your life is now hidden with Christ in God." We are to remember the
things of the Lord, what he has done, what he is like. In Hebrews
12:2-3 we read, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful
men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

As we gaze upon the Lord, when the inevitable appreciation, adoration
and thankfulness wells up in our hearts, we are to find its expression
in the giving of thanks, in glorying "in his holy name", offering him
praise and making known among all what he has done, telling of "all of
his wonderful acts"! Surely our God is due no less!

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: Great is the Lord in Zion!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 99:1-3,

"The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between
the cherubim, let the earth shake. Great is the Lord in Zion; he is
exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome
name- he is holy."

I have to confess that at times my perspective of the Lord just might
be a little too much on the "lovey-dovey"/personal side of things.
Please don't misunderstand me, I recognize that the Lord desires a
personal relationship with each of his children. He has expressed a
love for us that transcends even the love our parents have had for us.
He wants to cultivate an intimate relationship with each of us and
seeks to bring that about. Paul calls him our "Abba" Father, a term
indicating a relationship of father and child.

But there is another aspect of the Lord that strikes me in passages
such as this that brings a more balanced perspective in my view of the
Lord. "The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned
between the cherubim, let the earth shake." Our Lord is fearsome! Not
to be trifled with! The Lord is our transcendent God who radiates a
splendor of glory that reflects his majesty! He is our sovereign God
who is all-powerful and all-knowing! He exists in a blinding
brilliance of pristine qualities! He has his own agenda and all that
he wishes comes to pass without fail. There is no opponent he faces
that presents even a modicum of challenge for him. He uses his enemies
for his purposes in ways that are unwitting to them.

Isaiah had a vision of this perspective of the Lord, Isaiah 6:1-5, "I
saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of
his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six
wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered
their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to
one another:
'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.'
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and
the temple was filled with smoke. 'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined!
For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean
lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.'"

As the psalmist says in verse 9, "Exalt the Lord our God and worship
at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy."

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: Jesus Christ is a faithful Savior!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 94:18-19,

"When I said, 'My foot is slipping,' your love, O Lord, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my
soul."

This psalmist found the Lord to be his fortress, a rock in whom he
could take refuge, verse 22. He knew his Lord and had a history with
him. The Lord brought him joy. In his experiences with the Lord he
found the Lord supported him, consoled him. How many times? Of all the
times the psalmist looked for support and consolation from the Lord,
how many times did he receive it? Once? Twice? Some of the time? Most
of the time?

Proverbs 20:6 asks an insightful question, "Many a man claims to have
unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?" The answer to this
is one. Just one. There is one and only one who has unfailing love and
will be there reliably and faithfully each and every time he is
sought! Jesus Christ is faithful to all his promises, every time!

Some folks may not feel a need. Not me! I need someone I can turn to,
someone who is faithful and reliable, one that will be a fortress and
rock, one who will support and console me when I need it. One who
brings me joy. Not once or twice, not some of the time or even most of
the time - each and every time! And that is his commitment to me! What
a love our Savior has for us!

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: Wherever the Lord is, there greatness is to be found!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 87:1-5,

"He has set his foundation on the holy mountain; the Lord loves the
gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things
are said of you, O city of God: 'I will record Rahab and Babylon among
those who acknowledge me- Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush-
and will say, 'This one was born in Zion.' Indeed, of Zion it will be
said, 'This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High
himself will establish her.'"

After freeing the Jews, held in slavery in Egypt, following a forty
year wandering in the wilderness, God brought them to the land of
Canaan. It was the city of Jerusalem, in Canaan, that God chose to
have a temple built, in the midst of his people. There the temple
worship would continue as it had in the tabernacle God had Moses build
in the wilderness.

Jerusalem enjoyed the prominence any place would have as the physical
manifestation of God's presence. It wasn't that Jerusalem was great
and so God made his abode there, acknowledging its greatness, but it
was God's presence, his glory, that made Jerusalem great. In verse 3
the Sons of Korah say, "Glorious things are said of you, O city of
God". Such a great city that in the Lord's own "register of the
peoples" it will be written that "this one was born in Zion",
acknowledging the honor one's birth there would represent.

Such is the glory of our Lord. Where he is, there is greatness. It is
his very presence that makes it so, such is his glory. And so it is
with us as he indwells us. In these vessels of weakness the Lord
brings strength. In the midst of struggle with our own sin natures,
the Holy Spirit brings change from within. Where the Lord is, there it
is that greatness is to be found. Not because of that habitation but
because of he who inhabits it. The wonderful apostle Paul comes to
mind as I think of these things. Were we to ask Paul, in his humility
he would acknowledge he was nothing, but the Lord... now here is One
to marvel at. And, yet, as I look at Paul's life, from the time of his
persecution of the church and the martyrdom of Stephen to the time of
his great, heartfelt concern for the churches the Lord brought birth
to through him, I see greatness. A greatness that the presence of the
Lord brought to Paul's life.

Wherever the Lord is, there greatness is to be found!

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 is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Psalm 82:5,

"They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in
darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken."

In Asaph's psalm, he notes that there are those who know nothing,
understand nothing and walk about in darkness. I'm not sure if the
"they" refers back to the wicked or those who need deliverance from
them in verse 4. For the purposes of my thought this morning it makes
little difference.What I am reminded of is that apart from the Lord
folks are simply lost to spiritual things. Before I embraced Jesus
Christ in faith, I stumbled around in a spiritual darkness.

In 1 John 2:9-11 we read, "Anyone who claims to be in the light but
hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother
lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in
the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness
has blinded him." We come into this life estranged from God, living in
a spiritual darkness dominated by a sinful nature. In my case, in
addition to stumbling around in a spiritual darkness, I thought I knew
it all. What a combination! Ignorant and ignorant of my ignorance!

When we embrace Jesus Christ in faith, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell
within us. Paul speaks of a spiritual darkness that is removed by the
Holy Spirit in the hearts of those he dwells within, "We have not
received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that
we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak,
not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the
Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man
without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1
Corinthians 2:12-14.

How wonderful God is - who has brought light into our spiritually
darkened hearts! John tells us, "In him was life, and that life was
the light of men. The light shines in the darkness... " John 1:4-5a.
To me, one of the most moving and dramatic realities that has taken
place because of the coming of Jesus Christ to earth is what Isaiah
says in 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." Today I worship our loving Father who has brought light to
those of us stumbling in the great darkness!

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