Worship Devotional XL
Originally posted to the Facebook group on 9/12/2020.
Worship Devotional for 9/13/20
The next few months will bring us into winter, through the election season, and to the closing of this crazy year. As we go through all that is still to come, we must hold onto the unchanging and unshakeable truth that God is good and His love endures forever. There's still more challenges and trials and hardships ahead, but there are also good and exciting things to come. We must set our eyes on Jesus, and our hearts on His promises. We must seek the kingdom of God above all the things of the world, and follow His Spirit's leading. We must hold fast to His word and stay in fellowship with one another.
This week we are reflecting on a most wonderful attribute of God: His goodness. The thing about God's goodness is that it is not defined by our perception or ideas of what it should look like. God is the Creator and Judge of all, the One true and living, holy God. He defines what is really, truly good. We may be wrong about what we think is good. But God is always good, and what He says is good is indeed good. What He says is evil is indeed evil. If we claim to believe in God's goodness and enjoy talking and singing about all the nice things that flow from it's blessed bounty, then we had better acknowledge the truth of God's word and the beautiful but terrifying reality of His justice. He is full of compassion and loving kindness and mercy because He is good. But He is also full of wrath toward sin and wickedness, fierce and righteous jealousy for His people, and swift justice against all evil and wrongdoing — also because He is good. So, we are blessed to enjoy the benefits of His grace and love and mercy, but we also must take His word seriously and fear His name, precisely because He is actually good. In the words of C.S. Lewis describing Aslan, the character of a lion in his books that represents God, "He is not a tame lion, but He is good." God is not formed by our opinions and ideas. But He is good just as He promises in His word.
How amazing it is that we have been so blessed to be redeemed, guided, defended, and watched over by the God who is holy and good! Let us rejoice with trembling as we reflect on all the good things He has given us and done for us in love. We have hope and freedom and salvation and redemption, all because of His great goodness!
Songs:
Psalm 23:
"The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life; He leads me along the right paths for his name's sake. Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff — they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live."
This song, based on Psalm 23, is about how the goodness and grace of God leads and carries us through anything we may face. Even though our hearts tend to stray, God is guiding us and keeping us in the protection of His presence and love. Let us hold fast to faith and praise Him as we live this life for His glory all our days, until at last we are completely free and safe for eternity with Him in heaven.
This song gets at something we all have to face: even when life gets unbearably hard and things stop making sense, do we still believe that God is good? There will be trials that test our faith and cause us to question whether God really is good. But may we come to a place in our hearts where we can say, no matter what we face, that we know that He is indeed good. He is indeed kind and loving and for us as He promises in His word.
God has proven His faithfulness to His people over and over again. Throughout each of our lives, He has only ever been good and faithful and true. Therefore, we sing of His goodness and praise His name. This song is a declaration that we will sing of God's goodness because His goodness has pursued us. We didn't have to do anything to earn it. He is good and merciful and loving toward us completely by His grace.
4) Come Thou Fount (Above All Else) by Shane & Shane
Attached to this beautiful and profound hymn is a prayer that God, the fountain from whom all good things flow, would tune our hearts to praise Him and seek Him above everything else. We may wander and stray, but thank God for His grace and goodness that restores us and raises us up again for His glory!
Scriptures:
Psalm 23, 27, 145
John 10:1-30