Word for Today, Mon, 26 Jul 2004: Acknowledging God

#1 · July 26, 2004, 11:08 am

Quote from Forum Archives on July 26, 2004, 11:08 am
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Word for Today, Mon, 26 Jul 2004: Acknowledging God
Dear friends,

It is good to thank God for what He does, but it is incredibly
easy to fall into the trap of praising God only for what He does
rather than primarily praising God for who He is.

Personally, I definitely want to thank God for what He does, and
I also want to ask God for what I need, and yes, I also ask God
for what I want. But if that's all I ever do, that's an awful
selfish relationship. I ought to be ashamed of myself in such
cases. Occasionally, when I am especially needy, that's where I
go.

If, however, I keep a regular practice of thinking about who God
is, I have an awe about my relationship with Him, and I can't
help but exclaim and praise Him for who He is.

This message contains Psalm 104, a Psalm that really praises God
for who He is. Praying the Psalms is a great habit to get into;
just make sure to personalize it as you're doing so.

God is a personal God, and He desires a personal relationship
with each and every one of us. When we pay attention to seeking
God first, we begin to get an idea of just how awesome God is.
Once we do that, believing that God can meet our every want and
need is not a very big stretch at all, it is a given.

Yours in Christ,
Brian
____________________________________________________________

God in HIS world.

Psalm 104

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 2 He wraps himself in
light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a
tent 3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the
wind. 4 He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his
servants. 5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be
moved. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the
waters stood above the mountains. 7 But at your rebuke the
waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; 8
they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them. 9 You set a boundary they
cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth. 10 He makes
springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the
mountains. 11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 The birds of the air
nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. 13 He waters
the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by
the fruit of his work. 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate- bringing forth food from the
earth: 15 wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his
face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. 16 The trees of
the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he
planted. 17 There the birds make their nests; the stork has its
home in the pine trees. 18 The high mountains belong to the wild
goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys. 19 The moon marks
off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. 20 You bring
darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest
prowl. 21 The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from
God. 22 The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie
down in their dens. 23 Then man goes out to his work, to his
labor until evening. 24 How many are your works, O LORD! In
wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures
beyond number- living things both large and small. 26 There the
ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to
frolic there. 27 These all look to you to give them their food
at the proper time. 28 When you give it to them, they gather it
up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good
things. 29 When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you
take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. 30 When
you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face
of the earth. 31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may
the LORD rejoice in his works- 32 he who looks at the earth, and
it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. 33 I
will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God
as long as I live. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I
rejoice in the LORD. 35 But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Praise the LORD.

I recently heard someone say that the three most important
things we can say to God are "please", "thank you" and "sorry".
Now I know that these are important, humble words to have in our
God-ward vocabulary, but it got me thinking again, with so much
else recently, about how we so easily relate to God through the
lenses of our own perceived need. We are hungry, and God is our
Provider. We are lonely, and He is the Friend closer than a
brother. We are lost, and He is our Light and Saviour. We so
easily end up worshipping "the God who does": the God who
comforts us, hears our prayers, clothes us and rescues us. We
invite Him into "our" world, with our needs and limited
horizons, and then wonder why He sometimes seems just a little
bigger than us, somebody useful for granting the odd favour when
we run out of ideas.

Psalm 104 could so easily be this kind of a prayer. In the NKJV,
this psalm is titled "Praise to the Sovereign Lord for His
Creation and Providence." We can imagine the psalmist praying
"Thank You Lord that you made me, that you provide for me and my
family ...", thanking God especially for whatever has been
particularly appreciated lately as though to remind Him to keep
these blessings coming. But instead he goes off in a completely
different direction, enthusiastically reflecting on the
exuberant creativity in all God touches and does. In fact, "man"
is only mentioned for the first time in verse 14, and the first
time the word "I" is used is right at the end of the psalm, in
verse 33. This is a psalm about God being God! We see Him in the
context of some of the things we thought we knew: light, and the
heavens that stretch above us, and the mountains and the waters
that form our more immediate environment. But from the beginning
of the psalm these elements are not presented as something God
has rustled up for our benefit. The picture is of God speaking
into being unimaginably huge and beautiful things just as an
expression of His power and His majesty. The light is His
garment, the heavens His curtain. God exudes life. When we see
creation and our place in it from God's perspective, it suddenly
seems a whole lot less important to be asking God to do things
for us, and more important just to be lost in wonder at how
great He is, and to be caught up in His presence.

And this is where we are surprised, caught up in what I've heard
described as a "virtuous cycle": in God's presence is the place
where creativity and providence flow. As the psalmist says in
verse 30, "When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you
renew the face of the earth." Worship brings us into the
presence of God, the very place where all of our true needs are
met. What follows is the only fitting response: "May the glory
of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works
.... I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to
my God as long as I live."

2004-07-04
www.heartofworship.com/bibleinsights/index.php?page=psalms

=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

__________________________________
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Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Word for Today, Mon, 26 Jul 2004: Acknowledging God
Dear friends,

It is good to thank God for what He does, but it is incredibly
easy to fall into the trap of praising God only for what He does
rather than primarily praising God for who He is.

Personally, I definitely want to thank God for what He does, and
I also want to ask God for what I need, and yes, I also ask God
for what I want. But if that's all I ever do, that's an awful
selfish relationship. I ought to be ashamed of myself in such
cases. Occasionally, when I am especially needy, that's where I
go.

If, however, I keep a regular practice of thinking about who God
is, I have an awe about my relationship with Him, and I can't
help but exclaim and praise Him for who He is.

This message contains Psalm 104, a Psalm that really praises God
for who He is. Praying the Psalms is a great habit to get into;
just make sure to personalize it as you're doing so.

God is a personal God, and He desires a personal relationship
with each and every one of us. When we pay attention to seeking
God first, we begin to get an idea of just how awesome God is.
Once we do that, believing that God can meet our every want and
need is not a very big stretch at all, it is a given.

Yours in Christ,
Brian
____________________________________________________________

God in HIS world.

Psalm 104

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 2 He wraps himself in
light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a
tent 3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the
wind. 4 He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his
servants. 5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be
moved. 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the
waters stood above the mountains. 7 But at your rebuke the
waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; 8
they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them. 9 You set a boundary they
cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth. 10 He makes
springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the
mountains. 11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 The birds of the air
nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. 13 He waters
the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by
the fruit of his work. 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate- bringing forth food from the
earth: 15 wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his
face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. 16 The trees of
the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he
planted. 17 There the birds make their nests; the stork has its
home in the pine trees. 18 The high mountains belong to the wild
goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys. 19 The moon marks
off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. 20 You bring
darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest
prowl. 21 The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from
God. 22 The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie
down in their dens. 23 Then man goes out to his work, to his
labor until evening. 24 How many are your works, O LORD! In
wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures
beyond number- living things both large and small. 26 There the
ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to
frolic there. 27 These all look to you to give them their food
at the proper time. 28 When you give it to them, they gather it
up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good
things. 29 When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you
take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. 30 When
you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face
of the earth. 31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may
the LORD rejoice in his works- 32 he who looks at the earth, and
it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. 33 I
will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God
as long as I live. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I
rejoice in the LORD. 35 But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Praise the LORD.

I recently heard someone say that the three most important
things we can say to God are "please", "thank you" and "sorry".
Now I know that these are important, humble words to have in our
God-ward vocabulary, but it got me thinking again, with so much
else recently, about how we so easily relate to God through the
lenses of our own perceived need. We are hungry, and God is our
Provider. We are lonely, and He is the Friend closer than a
brother. We are lost, and He is our Light and Saviour. We so
easily end up worshipping "the God who does": the God who
comforts us, hears our prayers, clothes us and rescues us. We
invite Him into "our" world, with our needs and limited
horizons, and then wonder why He sometimes seems just a little
bigger than us, somebody useful for granting the odd favour when
we run out of ideas.

Psalm 104 could so easily be this kind of a prayer. In the NKJV,
this psalm is titled "Praise to the Sovereign Lord for His
Creation and Providence." We can imagine the psalmist praying
"Thank You Lord that you made me, that you provide for me and my
family ...", thanking God especially for whatever has been
particularly appreciated lately as though to remind Him to keep
these blessings coming. But instead he goes off in a completely
different direction, enthusiastically reflecting on the
exuberant creativity in all God touches and does. In fact, "man"
is only mentioned for the first time in verse 14, and the first
time the word "I" is used is right at the end of the psalm, in
verse 33. This is a psalm about God being God! We see Him in the
context of some of the things we thought we knew: light, and the
heavens that stretch above us, and the mountains and the waters
that form our more immediate environment. But from the beginning
of the psalm these elements are not presented as something God
has rustled up for our benefit. The picture is of God speaking
into being unimaginably huge and beautiful things just as an
expression of His power and His majesty. The light is His
garment, the heavens His curtain. God exudes life. When we see
creation and our place in it from God's perspective, it suddenly
seems a whole lot less important to be asking God to do things
for us, and more important just to be lost in wonder at how
great He is, and to be caught up in His presence.

And this is where we are surprised, caught up in what I've heard
described as a "virtuous cycle": in God's presence is the place
where creativity and providence flow. As the psalmist says in
verse 30, "When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you
renew the face of the earth." Worship brings us into the
presence of God, the very place where all of our true needs are
met. What follows is the only fitting response: "May the glory
of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works
.... I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to
my God as long as I live."

2004-07-04
http://www.heartofworship.com/bibleinsights/index.php?page=psalms

=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
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