Ascribe to the LORD the Glory Due His Name: Part Two

    Last week, we looked at some of the blessings we can wrongly take credit for. It is good to stop and trace these blessings back to God so we can give Him the glory He is due. Today, let’s look at a few more blessings that we may take for granted, so we can express renewed praise and thanksgiving to God for His generous love, mercy, and grace.

“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” (Revelation 4:11 NKJV) 

The Bible: God created us to seek Him and find Him (Acts 17:26-27) and did not leave us to puzzle over how we “got here” (Genesis 1), how to find Him (Jeremiah 29:13), or how to be pleasing to Him (Colossians 1:9-11). He loved us enough to provide His will to man, prepared men to write down His words (1 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Peter 1:20-21), and those very words were preserved over these millennia, translated by faithful men into languages we can understand, and now printed in such abundance that we could have ready access to them in a convenient, portable book we call the Bible; we may even have several copies in our homes. When we realize the very wonder of this – we hold the very Word of God in our hands – we need to thank God for the preparation, preservation, and provision He has granted, we need to give Him all the glory He is due for His generosity and show our true joy for this precious information by using it for reading, study, and guidance each day (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The Church: Some have still not returned to regular attendance after the pandemic - yes, even all these years later - choosing to stay home and “watch online,” maybe they don’t want to give up the new habits developed during the nation’s lockdown or maybe they like not having to interact with others, but they are missing out on something huge: participating in worship – listening to the sermons and prayers together, singing together, studying together, partaking of the Lord’s Supper together, talking/visiting together. Every part of it is an encouragement to both ourselves and others. God determined for Christians to gather together, to be a brotherhood, a family, so we can help each other walk the narrow and difficult way (1 Peter 5:8-9, 2 Timothy 2:22). If you aren’t there, how can you help another? If you aren’t there, how can you be helped?  God blessed us abundantly by establishing the church and giving instructions for local congregations to gather on the Lord’s Day to worship Him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), let’s remember the value of the church, and appreciate that we can serve God today just as they did in the 1^st century because God provided all the information/instruction we need in the Bible. Let’s give Him the glory for its establishment and not let bad habits and/or personality differences get in the way of our attendance or our praise and thanksgiving.    

God’s Lovingkindness and His Faithfulness: When we read Psalm 92:1-2, we find an encouragement to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to His name, to declare His lovingkindness every morning, and His faithfulness every night. Over the past few years, I have remembered this verse as I opened my eyes to a new day and immediately turned my mind to thanking God for His lovingkindness (aka mercy) in granting me a new day in which I could learn more so I could serve Him better. Each night I thank Him for His faithfulness – that He remained over all, that He was listening every time I voiced a prayer, that His promises of help (Hebrews 4:16, Psalm 46:1-4), comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-4), peace (Philippians 4:6-7), and strength (Psalm 18:32, 1 Peter 5:10-11) held true, and that His wisdom proved true (doing things God’s way truly is the best way, James 1:21-25). Recently though, I have realized that I need to be thanking Him for His lovingkindness that stretches beyond me, giving another day to my family and my family in Christ, and beyond them, thanking Him for the love He demonstrates through His longsuffering, giving those in the world another day to turn to Him and seek Him (2 Peter 3:9) – which reminded me of my need to be a light to the world and do good with the time I am granted Today. Let’s remember that our tomorrows are not guaranteed. Praise God and thank Him for each new day, and purpose to shine His light throughout the day. When you lay your head down at night, thank Him and praise Him for His absolute faithfulness – He has not and will not forsake His children (Psalm 37:27-28, 94:14, Hebrews 13:5).   

God’s Mercy and Forgiveness: We hold grudges, we give people the cold shoulder or the silent treatment, we allow resentment to build, we keep a mental record of wrongs, and may even begin to look forward to when the next mistake is inevitably made so we can cluck our tongues, roll our eyes, and unleash the storm that has been brewing in our minds toward them. Imagine if God was like that toward us? Would we even stand a chance? Take an honest look at your life and think about how often God has been merciful to you and the innumerable times He has forgiven you; how longsuffering He has been with you? How patient and loving He has been with you? How many times you have disappointed Him but He still loves you and wants you to come to Him for comfort, strength, and help? We should be praising God for His lovingkindness (aka mercy) every morning (Psalm 92:1-2), we should be careful to appreciate His forgiveness, give Him glory, praise and thanksgiving for His expansive compassion and willingness to forgive our debts, so much so that we have hearts that are compassionate and forgiving as well (Matthew 18:21-25). Take time to think on the commands found in these verses: Ephesians 4:29-32, Matthew 6:12; 14-15, Colossians 3:13, Mark 11:25, John 17:3-4 and 1 Corinthians 13:1-6, 1 John 3:1-3.  

“Sing to the LORD, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.” (Psalm 96:2-3 NKJV)

 

    These are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ when it comes to our blessings and the things we can glorify God for, and glorify Him we must! He has granted us such astounding benefits, we need to not hold them as commonplace, but we need to appreciate them, thank God for them, praise Him for His wisdom and love, and give Him the glory due His name!!

You can do it! So can I!!   

   

Giving God the Glory: Ascribe to the LORD the Glory Due His Name

“Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, give to the LORD glory and strength. Give to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.” (Psalm 96:7-9 NKJV) 

    When my daughters were small I would ask them to think about all the things they could thank God for before they prayed at night. My youngest daughter started listing off her toys and was soon told by her older sister that “those were made by people” but after a moment’s thought I encouraged them both to thank God for their dolls and toys because God had given the people who made them the creativity to think them up, the ability to make the materials, and the skills to put them together. After that, we began to think up all sorts of things, and for every one we, with this new perspective, were able to trace them all back to God, give Him thanks, and happily talk about how awesome He is!

     Do we, as adults, pause long enough to consider God’s involvement in all that we have? We need to offer God the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalm 116:17, 107:21-22), we need to think on His works so we can offer Him the sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15), and glorify Him as God and Creator of all; giving Him the all the glory due His name!!

Your job(s)/source(s) of income: Remember it is God who gives you the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). He granted you your talent, your ability to do the work and to gain knowledge, your health and function to accomplish what is needed.

Your transportation: If it is your own feet and legs – God blessed you with health, strength, and mobility to use them – or maybe it’s a bicycle or a type of motorized vehicle, so, like my daughter’s toys, these can be traced back to God because He granted people the ability to create these mechanisms and to source the materials needed to make them work safely and efficiently to transport us through varied weather and road conditions.  

Your talents: Maybe you were born with an ability or were quick to learn and master a skill that people now describe as ‘your talent, ’ whatever it may be, you were blessed with your talent by God, who gave you function and mobility to do it, and time to hone it.

Your house and belongings: See the first point. It is either from your job/income (that God granted you the ability to accomplish/gain) or from your inheritance/birthright (God granted you life) that you have a place to call home filled with things that mean something to you. Your house and everything in your house can be traced back to blessings God has bestowed on people at some point in time. The fact that we have them; that we can see, touch, hear, and smell the things around us proves that He continues to bless us abundantly as well!

Your daily “bread”: Most of us are in the habit of bowing in prayer before we eat our daily meals, but have we become so habitual in those prayers that we say them by rote. Hopefully we have grown beyond, “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food,” but do we race through a familiar prayer of our own making that has come to require little thought? I have tried to take a bit longer in my prayers for my food by considering all that goes into what is before me: God provided us with this earth where soil and atmosphere are good for growing crops, sustaining livestock, and supplying fresh water. He granted people the ability to make use of these conditions, to grow and sell their produce so we, who work at other things, can enjoy them as well. Within these food sources are natural vitamins and minerals, put there by God when He created them, that provide us with nutrition. He has granted us ability to gain wealth that allows us to have electricity and therefore a way to preserve and prepare the food we bring into our houses (heating/cooling, refrigerators, freezers, ovens, etc.), He also grants us health and wellness to prepare our meals and to eat them.     

    These are just a few things that we can so easily take for granted, or worse, think they are from our own doing! We can puff ourselves up and say, “It was my talent and skill that got me the job; I have all these things because I work hard for them!” or “I slaved all day over this meal, if you’re gonna thank anyone, it better be me, I did all the hard work!” or “I know right? I am pretty talented!” – remember Nebuchadezzar’s downfall when he looked over Babylon and declared, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for my royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honour of my majesty?”  (Daniel 4:30).

    Stop for a moment and look around you, really study all that surrounds you. You.are.blessed. Do you enjoy all these things but forget to thank God for the blessing of life, breath, and all things? Do you praise Him for all He has provided and continues to provide (Psalm 68:19); do you give God the glory due His name?

“…giving thanks always for all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20 NKJV)

    God is worthy of all the glory we can ascribe to His holy name!! Let’s open our eyes to the blessings and benefits He has given us to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17), and open our lips to give Him the credit, the praise, and the thanksgiving He deserves!!

You can do it! So can I!!  

   

Glorifying God, Giving Him the Glory

“Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, give to the LORD glory and strength. Give to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.” (Psalm 96:7-9 NKJV)

glory ‘doxa’ (G1391) very apparent dignity, honour, praise, worship

glorify ‘doxazo’ (G1392) to render or esteem glorious. To testify of one’s value by recognizing their real value – i.e. valuing God for who He really is, to worship, honour, hold in honour, magnify

“By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.” (Leviticus 10:3b NKJV)  

    Moses and Aaron were both prohibited from entering the Promised Land because they did not hallow God before the people (Numbers 20:1-13, 24, Deuteronomy 3:23-27, 34:1-8). God has not, does not change, so we must think very soberly and seriously on this information.

    While the book of Leviticus is often regarded as ‘just commands for the Levitical priests,’ the value of the book for us today is this unwavering message: God is holy and must be regarded as holy. You do yourself a huge favour by reading it carefully and taking serious note of this prevailing message.

    Giving God the glory is of utmost importance. Do we approach Him and acknowledge Him as we should? Do we give Him the credit for our abilities, joys, and successes? Do we value Him as worthy of mention? Do we hallow Him in our hearts and conduct as we should?

    If the Lord wills, over the next several weeks, I would like to delve into what it means to give God the glory.

    I hope you will join me as we look into this vital subject together! Let’s learn what it means to glorify God and give Him the glory so we can honour Him and proclaim His praises as we should!

You can do it! So can I!!