Worship Devotional XXXVI
Originally posted to the Facebook group on 8/14/2020.
Worship Devotional for 8/16/20
The last few weeks we have been singing about God's greatness and faithfulness, and the hope and security we have in Him. This week we are singing about the joy we have in God, and how He satisfies over and above anything else.
We think we are in a high position with all our wealth and worldly opportunities here in America, surrounded by western culture and influence. We find comfort in the world — whether it be success in our work, delight in our possessions and things, meditation on our dreams and desires, time spent with family, or anything else that isn't evil in and of itself, but that can distract us from what is best and from what truly satisfies and from what lasts forever and never fades away. We would do well to heed the warning that was given to the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:15-19:
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I'm rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,' and you don't know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be committed and repent."
David also had to learn this lesson when he was being chased by king Saul into the wilderness. When basic comforts and provisions had been stripped away from Him, David called out to God with what we now know as Psalm 63. He said in Psalm 63:1-5:
"God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. So I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory. My lips will glorify You because Your faithful love is better than life. So I will praise You as long as I live; at Your name, I will lift up my hands. You satisfy me as with rich food; my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.”
We need to understand that our worldly things mean nothing in the end. What matters are the things of God, of His kingdom. In these desperate and confusing times, people are scrambling for something to hold onto. They put their hope in things that will fail them. They have nothing to hold onto except for false idols that will disappoint them and leave them empty. We, however, have the only true and living hope to hold fast to. Join with me this week in prayer that God will lead our hearts to be set completely on Him, that we would realize that He is better than all that the world has to offer, and that we would know that we are satisfied in Him alone.
Songs:
1) Lead Me To The Cross by Hillsong
This song is a call to take a breath, quiet our hearts before God, and confess our need for Him. It is a prayer for Him to lead our hearts to His, and to lead us in the way of the cross, that we may know Him and live for Him alone. It is based on Philippians 3, esp. vv. 7-11:
"But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ — the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead."
This song goes through some of the main things that we all are prone to give our hearts to that don't really satisfy like we think they will, and declares that the God we seek and serve is better, and that what we have in Him is better than what any of these things have to offer. Money/wealth, beauty and appearances, power and status, man's approval — none of these things are able to fulfill the deep longings of our hearts, which God put there so that He might be glorified in our being filled and made complete by Him. Of all the things in all the kingdoms of the world that offer up empty promises and vie for our attention and devotion, the kingdom of God is infinitely better.
3) Better Is One Day by Matt Redman
Here the truth that God is better than anything the world can offer is emphasized by this statement from Psalm 84:10:
"Better a day in Your courts than a thousand anywhere else."
Truly, nothing can compare with what we have been given by the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We must give everything for His glory, for we have a heavenly reward that makes all the things of the world grow dim and suddenly appear utterly worthless.
Psalm 84:10-12:
"Better a day in Your courts than a thousand anywhere else. I would rather be at the door of the house of my God than to live in the tents of wicked people. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord gives grace and glory; He does not withhold the good from those who live with integrity. Happy is the person who trusts in You, Lord of Hosts!"
While knowing that we are truly satisfied only in God challenges us to consider how the good things we have in this life affect our hearts' devotion to Him, it also brings us great comfort and joy in the midst of trials and suffering and hardship. When we face fear and uncertainty, doubt, temptation, discontentment, or any other struggle or burden, we can find the strength we need to keep pressing on and the hope to keep our hearts focused in faith in knowing that it will be worth it in the end. We know this because we have tasted and seen that God is truly the One who satisfies. Therefore let us run to Him with all we have, take up our cross, and live for His glory. May this be our prayer.
Scriptures:
Psalm 34, 49, 63, 84
Ecclesiastes
Matthew 8:34-38
Philippians 3-4
Hebrews 4, 10:19-25, 12:1-13, 13:5-6
Through the cross we have been crucified to the things of the world, which are empty and which cannot satisfy, and while we have been joined together with Christ in His sufferings, we also are joined with Christ in His resurrection life and eternal reward. We must keep pressing on and seeking Him with all of our hearts and working in faith for His glory! I look forward to praising the one true and living God who satisfies us forever with you all on Sunday!