Psalms 89; 96; 100
Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. – Psalms 100:3 NLT
Lovingkindness. Faithfulness. Righteousness. Truth. Strength.
These three Psalms give us a glimpse of what it means to worship God. It is less an activity than an awareness of God's character and attributes. It is a recognition of who He is, what He has done, and what He is going to do as a result of His unchanging character. God is loving and kind. He is holy and righteous. He is powerful and completely in control. What He says He will do, He will do. He can be trusted. As we saw in Friday's readings, He is reliable. Even when things do not appear to be going as we expected, and God seems nowhere in sight, we can trust that He is there. How? Because that is His character. It is consistent with His behavior. It is in keeping with His word. If we do not truly know who God is, we will never truly worship Him. It is the reality of HIS faithfulness that allow us to be faithful to Him. If we doubt that He can be trusted, we will not trust Him. We will doubt Him. If we do not believe His promises, we will never rest in them.
Our worship is fickle and feeble at best. It tends to be based on present circumstances. If things are going well, our God is good and we will praise Him. If things are going poorly, we begin to doubt Him and even complain about our lot in life. We even turn worship into an activity only participated in on Sunday. It has been relegated to a worship hour and a particular music style. If we enjoy ourselves in our worship service of choice, if we like the music that is sung and the message that is given, then we believe we have worshiped. But we can go through that entire process and never acknowledge God's lovingkindness, faithfulness, righteousness, truth and strength. We can feel good, but feel nothing about or towards God. In essence, the worship service becomes more about us than Him.
These three Psalms remind us that God is to be our focus. Not because of what He is currently doing for us, but simply because of who He is. He is God and there is no one else like Him. He is God and He is completely trustworthy and true. He is God and He is powerful, capable of doing whatever He chooses to do. And if He is not doing what we THINK He should be going, He has a very good reason. If He is allowing difficulty into our lives, He is not asleep, apathetic, or impotent; He has a plan. He made us. We are His sheep. We belong to Him. He knows what is best for us. But do we trust Him? Do we believe He is strong enough to meet any and all of our needs? Do we comprehend just how much He loves us? The Psalmist reminds us that when God made a promise to David that his kingdom would endure forever, even the unfaithfulness and disobedience of the people could not alter the reality and reliability of that promise. God's word endures. His faithfulness is unfailing. His lovingkindness is everlasting. His truth never falters. His strength never diminishes.
Tell the nations about his splendor! Tell all the nations about his amazing deeds!For the Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise; he is more awesome than all gods. – Psalms 96:3-4 NET
Father, so often I attempt to worship who I do not know. I try to sing the praises of a God I don't fully understand or appreciate. I tend to sing only when I feel like it. I praise You only when I feel like You have done something for me that I deem worthy of praise. Yet You are worthy of praise all the time. You are loving and kind, righteous and holy, true all the time, and powerful to save. Help me better come to know You so that I might better worship You. Not just for what You do but just because of who You are. Amen