Worship Devotional LVI
Originally posted to the Facebook group on 1/15/2021.
Worship Devotional for 1/17/21
This world is a noisy place. There are so many voices bombarding us every day with opinion and conjecture, lies and deceit, empty words and promises, and all kinds of futile and worthless noise. Our lives are filled with all sorts of opinions clashing on social media, a plethora of both information and disinformation before our eyes on the screens of our devices, and different people telling us all sorts of different and sometimes conflicting things, sometimes with good and honest intentions and sometimes with the hidden intent to deceive and mislead. With so much noise flooding our eyes and ears every day and influencing our thoughts, we can lose sight of what is really important, what really matters, and what is true. We begin to lose ourselves in the distractions, drifting away into purposeless routine and meaningless existence. In times such as these, when there is unrest and uncertainty and everyone is raising voices in anger or fear or doubt, there are many questions that arise. There are things that are happening in the world around us that are hard to understand. When the world is shaken, people look for someone or something in which to place hope. But we know there is no hope apart from Jesus Christ.
We have the answers the world needs, as well as the ones that we need. But we must listen to the right voice. We have been hearing a message from our pastor lately about the word "closer." When we draw closer to God, the world's noise begins to fade away, and we become better equipped to hear the only voice that speaks only what is true. Our songs this week are a prayer that God would speak to us deep in our hearts and lead us in what is true for His glory, that we would not be distracted by the noise of the world, but that we would have the peace, wisdom, and truth that only He gives to guide us through this life.
Here are the songs:
1) Come As Close As You Want by Tim Reimherr
If we are to listen to the voice of our God, then we need for Him to cleanse and purify our hearts. Impurity within keeps us from hearing what He is saying. The sin and stubbornness of our hearts causes them to harden in rebellion and keeps us wandering down a dark and evil path. We need to humble ourselves before God and repent, and ask Him to make us clean and holy and more like Jesus. He is able to soften our stiff hearts and to wash away the filth we accumulate from the world. Let us therefore turn to Him in humility and receive His grace.
1 Peter 5:5c:
"God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
2) Speak To Me by Evan Wickham
This song is a cry of faith to the One who spoke the universe into existence, that He would speak to our hearts, giving us confidence and healing and comfort and everything that we need. May we sing this prayer with honest and humble hearts: "Speak to me; Father, I am listening." The words of others fall short and do not have the power to save and heal and restore our hearts, but the word of God does. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, through whom God has already spoken to us, and let us walk by the Spirit and by faith, with humble hearts that heed what He says.
Psalm 33:4-9:
"For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is trustworthy. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the Lord's unfailing love. The heavens were made by the word of the Lord, and all the stars, by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into a heap; He puts the depths into storehouses. Let the whole earth tremble before the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it came into being; He commanded, and it came into existence."
Isaiah 55:8-11:
"'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.' This is the Lord's declaration. 'For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.'"
In the mess of worldly noise, there are lies that we sometimes believe about ourselves and who we are. Instead of listening to what the world says about us, we need to listen to what God says about us, so that we can stand in our true identity in Christ and live for His glory. This song is about offering your heart to God and asking Him to speak the truth into it.
4) Speak O Lord by Keith & Kristyn Getty
This modern hymn is about the One who calls things into existence and whose word is powerful and true. May He speak and cause faith to arise, truth to be known, and the whole earth to be filled with His glory.
Scripture references:
Genesis 1
Deuteronomy 8:1-10
Psalms 19, 33, 56, 95, 119, 130
Isaiah 40:6-8, 55 (esp. vv. 6-11)
Matthew 17:1-5
Luke 8:4-25
John 1:1-18, 5:24-29, 6:26-69, 8:30-32, 10:1-30, 12:44-50
Romans 12:1-2
Hebrews 1-4, 12
James 1:18-25
1 Peter 1:13-25, 4:12-19, 5:5-6
2 Peter 1:3-4 & 16-21
1 John 1, 4:13-19