And yet the God of all creation is known by His people. He chooses to meet with us as we call upon His name. God is not some cosmic question mark against which vain and empty prayers are hurled. God is a loving, caring Father. He desires to be known and to dwell within us. And He loves to tabernacle in the midst of the saints as they worship Him.
We do not worship an “it”, we worship a “Him.” It is to Him that I lift up my eyes when I am distressed. It is He that I call upon when I am in need. It is He that I rejoice in when He gives me victory. It is He that I go up to meet at the house of the Lord. That is why I am glad when they say unto me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord” (Psa 122:1).
We are saved by a person - not a doctrine. It is by virtue of His love for you and the blood that He shed that you are saved. Yes, salvation is received by obeying the true gospel, but it is the Lord Jesus Christ who makes salvation available. The very method by which Grace is imparted rests firmly upon the love of God for you. A person, not a doctrine saves you! We need to lift up our eyes to Him and place our confidence in Him. He is the God of the Temple; He is the God behind the doctrine. The house of God is great because of the God that dwells there. The gospel message is powerful because of the God of the message.
When Jesus walked the earth, those who placed extreme value upon the temple confronted him. The Pharisees disputed with Jesus over and over about customs having to do with the temple, the Sabbath, and dietary issues. And yet God created these ceremonial laws as a way for man to commune with Him. While arguing with Jesus about the temple, they failed to recognize that He was indeed the God of the temple. He said to them:
“But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.” Matt 12:6
Ultimately it was a false accusation about the temple that these blind leaders used to convict Jesus of blasphemy. They said He blasphemed the temple. Consider that, the God of the temple was accused of blaspheming His temple.
What are you saying? I am saying that some folks have more confidence in their prayer than they do in the God all prayer must be offered to. Some folks have more confidence in their worship than they have in the God Who meets us when we worship in spirit and in truth. Some folks have more confidence in their doctrine than they do in the God who chooses to save us through true doctrine. We must lift up our eyes to Him!
Wait Upon the Lord
“Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.” Ps 123:2
Verse two conveys the twin concepts of eager service and patience. In worship, God must have our complete attention. This is not about showing our own piety or spirituality.
A) Serving in Worship
Worship is not something that is blindly hurled in the direction of an unknown entity somewhere up there. As we worship the Lord, our spiritual eyes must be employed in watching the hand of the Lord.
In the orient, orders were seldom given to the servants in words but instead by simple motions and symbols. The servant was so attentive and attuned to his lord that words were seldom needed. It is said that often a guest would not even be able to recognize that the master had given an order to the servants, so attuned were the servants to their lord.
Can we not wait upon our God with our eyes? Must He speak every command explicitly? Must He speak the command over and over and over and over again? It is no mistake the way verse two is written. The servant or the maiden would train their eyes to watch the hand of their master or mistress.
No comments:
Post a Comment