January 26, 2009

My God, my God, why have You forsaken men?

Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.

Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;

And by night, but I have no rest.

Yet You are holy,

O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

-Psalm 22:1-3

You know, God never ceases to amaze me, and I find that the more I delve into His word, the more I fall in love with Him and discover the incredible promises He has for me.

But this passage left me with a different feeling. Rather than rejoicing in the outpouring of love God shows me, this song of David forced me to step back and evaluate the outpouring of love I show God. The past few weeks have been incredible as my faith and relationship with Christ has reached a very different place, but this passage reminded me that God deserves my praise and adoration even in the darkest times, when I cannot see Him. How beautiful are David's words: Yet You are holy!! Talk about faith!

The chapter goes on to talk about how even when David is in the worst moments of his life, "You, O Lord, be not far off; O You my help, hasten to my assistance. Deliver my soul from the sword, My only life from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth; From the horns of the wild oxen answer me" (vv. 19-21). There is that wonderful promise from God that I've come to love so much. But it comes sixteen verses after David's praise of the Lord! What a wonderful reminder that God deserves our praise even when we do not understand the situation we find ourselves in. We cannot always see God's plan, and it may not be come in our own timing, but He is always right beside us, ready to pull us out of the lion's mouth or save us from the wild oxen of this world.

"We are not alone. He makes himself known in time, His own time"

-Brandon Heath, Beauty Divine

January 25, 2009

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

Day to day pours speech,

And night to night reveals.

There is no speech, no are there words;

Their voice is not heard.

Their sound has gone out through all the earth,

And their utterances to the end of the world.

In them He has placed a tent for the sun,

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;

It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.

Its rising is from one end of the heavens,

And its circuit to the other end of them;

And there is nothing from its heart.

-Psalm 19:1-6 (NASB)

It was two nights ago on January 23rd that I read this psalm in my daily devotion time. And I found myself completely blown away. The heaves and all of God's creation continually speak praises to their creator, day and night. Even though their praises aren't heard by men they rise from one of the heavens to the other, an never-ending, all-encompassing PRAISE lifted to our King.

How amazing is that?? The thought of God's creation always worshipping Him... it really just blows me away. The glory of God and his creation speaking constant praise, oh that we should do the same and worship Him with everything we do!

That has become the theme of my heart these last two weeks. At the beginning of the new year I made a commitment to God, devoting time to diving into His Word every day (and hopefully reading through the Bible in a year with the study I chose). In the few weeks that I have begun this, God has already begun a dramatic work in my life, and the first challenge laid before me is to worship my Savior with everything I do.

Often times I find myself caught up in the music portion of chapel or a church service. There is certainly not surprising since I am a musician, but I want to find that same passion for God that I feel in those musical moments in everything I do. We tend to think of worship as the praise music portion of a church service, but worship is defined as "the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration of a deity" with synonyms such as adoration, glorification, devotion, homage, and honor. My heart desires to bring glory to God and lift up praise to my King with every aspect and act of my life.

After just a few short weeks of really getting face to face with God on a daily basis and seeing what He is already doing for me, I am so excited to see where he takes me the rest of this year! God is good!