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 This week we begin worship with:

Proverbs 3:19-20

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

In this verse the Psalmist marvels at creation and the design that went into it.  Wisdom (ḥāḵmâ), understanding(tāḇûn), and knowledge(daʿaṯ) are ascribed to the LORD.

I had always wondered about the details in the creation account concerning separating the waters that below from the waters that are above (Genesis 1:6-10).  But a few years ago science caught up to scripture and the following scholarly article was published:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180309170700.htm

A more readable popular version is available at: 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-022-01077-z.pdf

And now just this past week, another discovery was published in a scientific journal concerning the ambipolar electrostatic field and how it increases the height of our protective atmosphere.  The scholarly article can be found here;

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07480-3.epdf

and a more readable version is available at:

https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/nasa-discovers-planet-wide-electric-field-around-earth-thats-shooting-bits-of-our-atmosphere-into-space#

Indeed we served a great God, who designed all of this!

 

Worship

This week we begin worship with:

John 4:23
"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him."

The reason is given in the following verse.

John 4:24
"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

The physical worship of the Jews must be transformed because God is spirit.  Paul wrote:

Romans 9:4
They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.

The"worship" (latreia) or "service" (KJV) was the sacrificial system of physical worship and atonement. Paul then wrote as the capstone verse of Romans:

Romans 12:1
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

In this "spiritual worship" (logikos latreia) we become the sacrifice.  We become every Burnt Offering, every Grain Offering, every Peace Offering, every Sin offering, and every Guilt offering (Leviticus 1-6).

So one must ask oneself, how am I sacrificing myself today?  For this is how we worship Him in "spirit and truth.".

Name

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 124:8

Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Contrast this with when the Psalmist was seeking the answer.

Psalm 120:1-2

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

You have to know the name.  God is not anonymous.  He does not act under any pseudonym.  If you do not know the name you are without help.  You have no one on whom to call.

humble

This week we begin worship with:

1 Peter 5:6

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

This proverb is recorded also in James 4:6 and is a reflection of Proverbs 3:34.  Because it is in James, and the Book of James is an anthology of the teachings of Christ, it must have been a constant message from our LORD, an example of which is the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:7-11).

The previous verse spoke to the relationship of elder and those that they shepherd:

1 Peter 5:5

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

The verse starts with "Likewise" and mid-verse Peter switches to "all of you".  Humility is for all of us.

Only God does not have to be humble.

That said, consider our example:

Philippians 2:5-8

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Fulfill

Today we begin worship with:

Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

This verse leaves out from whom we are asking, on whose door we are knocking, and for what we are seeking.  It is a general statement built off the truisms that if we don't seek we will not find.  If we don't knock, no-one will open.  And if we don't ask, no-one will respond.  The verse simply encourages us to become connected and interdependent.

Matthew 7:11

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 

Yes, one of those connections is God.  For His charity is that of a Heavenly Father to His children. And by this we are encouraged to be dependent upon Him.

Matthew 7:12

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

But the passage concludes with our human connections in a way that summarizes not only the previous three chapters, but all of scripture.

Matthew 5:17

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Without those connections we cannot fulfill the purposes of God.

Behold

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 46:10-11

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

We are told to "be still" (rāp̄â).  This is not inactivity or slothfulness.  This is not rest or contemplation.  It can be best understood, from the repeated phrase "I will be exalted".  We need to let it happen.

We should let God be God and watch how He accomplishes His purposes. 

In Psalm 46:1-3, we are told that "though" many disastrous things occur, God is in control and what flows from Him is a river of blessing should make us glad.

Psalm 46:4

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

    the holy habitation of the Most High.

But if we strain to do God's job, we will be tired and worn out.  If we let God be God, often our only task is to watch.

Psalm 46:8a 
Come, behold the works of the Lord . . .

It is quite a sight!

Horde

 We start worship this morning with:

2 Chronicles 20:6
O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.

When Jehoshaphat prayed this, his back was against the proverbial wall.  An army was coming against the nation of Israel that could only be described as a "horde" (hāmôn).

2 Chronicles 20:12 

O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

As their leader Jehoshaphat called a fast and Israel assembled and the word of the Lord came through the priest Jahaziel:

2 Chronicles 20:15

And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's.

The battle is not ours.  Stop and reread that until it sinks in.

Yes, the army had to assemble.  Yes, it had to face its deepest fears and go out.  But God went before them and did what they could not do.  He gave them victory.

We serve the LORD, who none can withstand.  

See the horde coming.  See it surround you.  Take up your position.  Pray and watch what He does in you, around you, and often times in spite of you.

Build

This week we start worship with:

Psalm 69:30, 32–35a

I will praise the name of God with a song;

    I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

When the humble see it they will be glad;

    you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

For the Lord hears the needy

    and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.

Let heaven and earth praise him,

    the seas and everything that moves in them.

For God will save Zion

    and build up the cities of Judah, . . .

A victors history is one which the king in power records only victory after victory in their chronology.  The Bible is not so.  The focus of this verse are the "humble", the "needy", and the "prisoners".  

But in spite of this the Psalmist praises God and encourages all of creation to praise Him, for what will happen.  God will "built up" (bānâ) the cities of Judah.  The word implies permanence and protection.

The Psalm is not a prayer but rather a prophecy.

Judge

 This week we begin worship with:

John 7:16–17, 24

So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." 

"...Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

When Job stepped back from all the noise of his friend's advice, he was able, in his right mind, to discern the will of God.  No, not the sovereign will of God that governs history, but he understood the intention, direction, and conclusion of that history.  Namely, that because God made us, He loves us.  Because He loves us, even though we are fallen, He made a way for us to reconcile.

Think it through.  Then smile.

Price

This week we begin worship with:

Isaiah 55:1

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

I may have told this story before, but it deserves re-telling and this verse deserves rereading . . .

While camping, my mother was befriended by an older couple who invited my mother and I to lunch.  As we arrived at lunch I felt increasingly out of place, a young boy out to lunch with three adults at a very fancy restaurant.  

There was a brief quiet word between the man and the waiter, and the waiter soon returned with the menus.  Special menus.  We were given menus without prices.  After often being told by my mother to choose something cheaper, this was incredible.  

I stammered the question, "I can order anything?".  Our hosts reassured us, "Yes, anything".

Praise God, that He has befriended us and we sit at His table.  My advice, order the lobster.

Gather

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 147:2

The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.

After the stoning of Steven, as Paul persecuted the church, the church was scattered.  James, in fact, wrote to those “scattered among the nations“ (diaspora).  But God will to do the reverse.  He will gather( kānas).

Many carry the ideal of being away, being separate, being alone.  Many want the “Hundred Acre Wood” of Winnie the Pooh all to themselves.  But this is not God’s ideal.  God’s ideal is the city.  The scattered coals of a fire die out, but only when gathered together they burn bright.

Psalm 147:12-14
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, O Zion!
For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
    he blesses your children within you.
He makes peace in your borders;
    he fills you with the finest of the wheat.

It is to this ideal we are being called in the last chapters of Revelation, to a city designed by God.