Worship Devotional XCIII

Oct 16

Originally posted to the Facebook group on 10/16/2021.

Worship Devotional for 10/17/21

Psalm 115:1-3:

"Not to us, Yahweh, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your faithful love, because of Your truth. Why should the nations say, 'Where is their God?' Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases."

We serve and worship the God who reigns in heaven over all things. There is no other like Him. He is the Creator and Judge of all, the eternal and holy and true and living God, the Lord of Hosts, God Almighty — the sovereign God. He is sovereign over all our circumstances, sovereign over the current events and all the things going on in the world, sovereign over all of creation and weather and natural disasters and the changing of the seasons, sovereign over all nations and rulers and people groups, and sovereign over every human heart.

This is a hard truth to grasp. We as mere human beings — as the created and not the Creator — are not able to fully understand it. Even David, as he reflected on God's sovereignty in psalm 139, said in verse 6:

"This extraordinary knowledge is beyond me. It is lofty; I am unable to reach it."

Yet Scripture assures us time and time again that God is in control, that He has all authority over all things, and that His purposes and plans will be accomplished.

We know and have sung about certain aspects of God's character — His goodness, His faithfulness, His love. But how can we really believe these are true unless we wrestle with the subject of God's sovereignty and ask the hard questions? If God is sovereign over all things, then how is He also good, considering all the pain and suffering that is in the world? Yet if God is not sovereign over all things, how can He be perfectly faithful to fulfill His astounding promises for the future? How can God be sovereign over human will and the choices and decisions of the human heart, yet also be a God of love who gives freedom to His creation?

I am not attempting to explain the thoughts of God or to answer every challenging question of the Christian faith. But we as believers in Christ Jesus, children of God, and followers of the truth, must realize that Scripture reveals to us a God who is sovereign. He is holy, set apart from us, operating far beyond our limited thoughts and opinions, and He at work among and within and around us. I may not be able to explain why God does all the things He does or allows all the things He allows, but I know this from 1 John 4:9-10 & 19:

"God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins...We love because He first loved us."

I was lost in the lustful desires of my flesh. I was dead in my sin, vainly trying to navigate this futile life by my own worldly and worthless thoughts and abilities. I was hopelessly bound in the darkness, but God rescued me with the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, revealing truth and healing to my soul and bringing me to life by His Holy Spirit. He did this by His grace and because of His love, and not by any work of mine.

None of us can claim credit for our salvation. We are saved by God's grace through faith in Christ alone. Our faith and the life which we now live in Him could only be granted to us by a sovereign God. Though we may not understand all the reasons for everything now, may our hearts continue to seek to know God more and more, and to praise Him with all that we are for who He is. Though the sovereignty of God is difficult to comprehend and challenging to believe in at times, it offers great encouragement to us through faith. Because God is sovereign, He is able to sanctify our wandering hearts and to make us able to stand clean and pure and blameless before Him. Because God is sovereign, He is able to fulfill His promises in perfect faithfulness according to His goodness and power and love. So keep believing and seeking Him, giving God the glory through Jesus Christ in everything, for He is sovereign over all things.

Philippians 1:6:

"I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day Christ Jesus."

1 Timothy 6:13-16:

"In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you to keep the command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will bring this about in His own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, the only One who has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; no one has seen or can see Him, to Him be honor and eternal might. Amen."

Jude 24-25:

"Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen."

Songs: