Worship Devotional XIV
Originally posted to the Facebook group on 2/28/2020.
Worship Devotional
Greetings, church family! This week we are reflecting on the holiness, glory, and love of God. We will be praising Him together with familiar songs in a more intimate, acoustic setting this Sunday.
Here are the songs:
1) Unto Your Name by Housefires
Philippians 4:8-11:
"He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Revelation 5:12:
"The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
The name of Jesus is exalted high above every other name, and is the only name by which we are saved. Let us rejoice and praise His name—the only name that is truly worthy to be praised! For our God is great and mighty and full of unfailing love.
See also: Psalms 24 & 148; Micah 7:18-20; Revelation 7:9-12 & 15:3-4
2) Holy Is The Lord by Chris Tomlin
Isaiah 6:3:
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth."
The word, "holy," means "set apart" for a pure, righteous, and godly purpose, and has to do with being "whole." When we declare that there is no one like our God, and that only He is worthy of praise, and that He alone is the one true God, we are declaring His holiness. He is set apart from all of creation because He is the Creator. He alone is God.
We also are called to be holy as He is holy (1 Pt 1:15-16). This means we are to be set apart, consecrated, and devoted unto the Lord for His purposes. Let us remember this call to holiness as we praise the One who is truly holy.
See also: Psalms 29:2, 57, 72:18-19, 96, 99, & 108:1-6; Habakkuk 2:14
This song is about praising the One who satisfies. It can be easy to sing, but difficult to fully believe and embrace at times. To believe that Jesus is really enough for us means we forsake our love and devotion to anything else. It means we trust in Him alone no matter what. For every thirst and for every need, we are ultimately satisfied only by His love. What we have in Him is also ultimately not only enough, but more than enough, and much more than we can even fathom (Eph. 3:20). Praise God who blesses us so generously!
See also: Psalm 63; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 4:12-13
4) Your Love O Lord by Third Day
To conclude our set, we have a song that is based on Psalm 36. In this Psalm, we see that God's faithfulness and love work together with His righteousness and justice. God's character cannot be divided—He is One and He is true and He is holy. We must therefore realize, as this Psalm declares, that God is both loving and just. His justice and holiness demands punishment for sin. Yet His love compels Him to show mercy to sinners. A realization of these characteristics of God is crucial to understanding why Jesus had to die on the cross. In the cross, we see both the justice and love of God accomplished, so that now we who believe in the name of Jesus Christ can find everlasting peace, strength, joy, fulfillment, and life in the shadow of His wings—in the protection of His presence.
See also: Psalms 57 & 108
As we go into the month of March, we will be focusing a lot on the meaning of the cross, since we have been focusing on God's love. We see the love of God proven and displayed in the work of the cross. This focus will lead us into the Easter season. Be blessed, and I look forward to praising the Lord with you all on Sunday. :)