The Lord is
king! Let the nations tremble!
He sits on his throne between the cherubim.
Let the whole earth quake!
The Lord sits in majesty in Jerusalem, exalted above all the nations.
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Your name is holy!
Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established fairness.
You have acted with justice and righteousness throughout Israel.
He sits on his throne between the cherubim.
Let the whole earth quake!
The Lord sits in majesty in Jerusalem, exalted above all the nations.
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Your name is holy!
Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established fairness.
You have acted with justice and righteousness throughout Israel.
Exalt
the Lord our God!
Bow low before his feet, for he is holy!
Bow low before his feet, for he is holy!
Moses
and Aaron were among his priests; Samuel also called on his name. They cried to the Lord for help, and
he answered them.
He spoke to Israel from the pillar of cloud,
and they followed the laws and decrees he gave them.
O Lord our God, you answered them.
You were a forgiving God to them,
but you punished them when they went wrong.
He spoke to Israel from the pillar of cloud,
and they followed the laws and decrees he gave them.
O Lord our God, you answered them.
You were a forgiving God to them,
but you punished them when they went wrong.
Exalt
the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain in Jerusalem, for
the Lord our God is holy! Psalm
84:11(NLT)
I was never in Boy Scouts, but I love their motto:
Be Prepared.
On my honor I
will do my best to do my duty to God and my country….
The first priority in that pledge is duty to God! The Psalmist teaches us the same thing, how
to be prepared to exalt or worship God, who is holy.
One of the church’s great hymns “Holy, Holy, Holy”[2]
has, in part, a basis in Psalm 99 (as well as Revelation 4:8-11). This hymn, sung by the angels, cherubim and
seraphim in Isaiah’s(Ch6) vision expresses the way we can best respond
to God’s holiness – which is to rearrange our thoughts and the way we live our
lives to be in line with God’s will. He
is the LORD, God, Almighty!
Exalt God by Knowing him
The hymn says all Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in
earth and sky, and sea; As created beings on earth we have been given a
special position and privilege to be very near the heart of God. He loves us; He is the best Father that one
could imagine, and so much more.
Our job is to get to know our Creator. One of the ways we can do this is to
worship. As we lift our praise God’s
presence is made known to us, for God inhabits the praise of His people…
Yet
you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Psalm 22:3(NLT)
Our job is to praise Him so we get to know Him. We can grow in our relationship to God by
praising Him; He is also worthy of that praise.
Our hymn teaches us that those praises belong to God,
and we do well to lift our voices from early in the morning…
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
If you’re going to learn who God is, what He is like,
and what He wants you to do with your life, you’ve got to spend more time
praising Him than the time you spend thinking about how tough life is, and
where you put your cows (or play-station cartridges or car keys).
…and as you get to know holy God, you will then
understand that the task changes from knowing to doing as you…
exalt god by Living a Holy Life Before
God
So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living
to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t
know any better then. But now you must
be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy
because I am holy.”
1
Peter 1:14 - 16 (NRSVA)
Our hymn has several references to us changing our
ways (what we do) in order to live a life of humility, or holiness as God
observes us.
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy
sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
Notice the emphasis of worshipping God by actions:
·
adoring God,
·
putting our own successes in humility at His feet,
·
watching the angels bow down in humble worship.
It’s not about us at all; it’s ALL about HIM!
It is a powerful picture of the angels bowing down
before God. Angels are not the insipid
effeminate characters pop culture makes of them. Angels are fierce warriors. If an angel of God appeared in this building
right now, you’d probably fall down in trembling fear. Unbelieving or un-informed people make angels
sweet and non-threatening enough to hang them on our Christmas trees and print
them on t-shirts. The Bible never does
that; whenever an angel appears on earth or heaven it is a holy occasion filled
with power and majesty.
Now, if those majestic angels bow down to the throne
of God and constantly sing praise while flying in a display of humble praise
before God, doing His bidding instantly and joyfully, what should OUR lives be
like? Should we ignore God or live our
life humbly attempting to please Him?
The Boy Scout Promise (oath) says on my honor…; to live a
life holy before God means He trusts us to do just that.
Jesus was proclaimed by the Gospel writer to be the light
coming into the world. Yet, there is a
great darkness in our land today. It was
the same nearly two hundred years ago when the hymn was written:
Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
Darkness has always stood for sin and separation from
God. The eye of sinful man
may try to hide God from view, but our job is to live life holy before God, to
be people who stand up, even in the face of ridicule.
challenge: Honor God
in all
Many of us have a sense of embarrassment about being
thought of as religious fanatics. We
need to be more like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These Old Testament saints angered King Nebuchadnezzar
by refusing to worship him. The king got
so ticked at their holy lives that he had the furnace heated seven times hotter
than usual. But even the fire was not
able to touch these men of God. Honoring
their God was more important to them than the king’s ego!
Jackie Mickels tells the story of the day after their
wedding when the 4-year- old ring bearer asked his mother if he had gotten
married the day before.
“No,” she reassured him.
Little Jerry’s reply:
“Then what in the world was I doing up there?”[4]
Sometimes in this world we face things that make us
wonder like that. Your best preparation
to do your duty to God is to know Him, and live life holy before Him.
For the LORD our God is a holy God!
Go to VIDEO
[2] WORDS:
Reginald Heber, 1826, MUSIC: John B. Dykes, 1861
[3]http://www.utahoutdoors.com/pages/brycewinter.htm
(Expletive deleted for our “G” rated audience).
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
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