"I have built You an exalted house, and a place for You to dwell in forever. . . . There is no God in heaven or on earth like You" (2 Chronicles 6:2, 14).
THEME
WORSHIP
Writing of our response to God, Thomas Carlyle, the nineteenth-century essayist, concluded, "The man who does not habitually worship is but a pair of spectacles behind which there is no eye."
Solomon, like Carlyle, recognized people's need to worship. With the help of more than 150,000 workers, he built the most magnificent praise house ever. Opulent in its use of gold, silver, bronze, and fine cloth, the temple dazzled the ancient world.
On dedication day hundreds of singers and musicians, including 120 trumpeters, praised the Lord. They sang of His goodness and enduring love.
The glory of God filled the temple, but the earthly structure could not contain Him. God cannot be put in a box; He is not a genie. Worshipful people declare who God is and what He has done, but they never try to bring Him down to human level or limit Him to a single place.
The thief on the cross truly worshiped Jesus, for he recognized who He was and what He could do. Many of us do not; we wear prescription lenses but have no eyes.
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MAY 13
PSALM 33:1-22
Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day (Psalm 96:2).
Most people are interested in news only if it's fresh. We read today's newspaper rather than yesterday's. We discuss only the latest sports scores at office coffeebreaks.
The same need to remain fresh and up-to-date applies to our awareness of the good things God does for us. The Old Testament songwriter realized the importance of recognizing the wonder God displays every day, so he called for a new song and a new description of the world's most important and most timely news. He wasn't implying that we are to restrict our reports of God's blessings to late-breaking news. Rather, he wanted a new appreciation of what the Lord has done for us in the past as well as what He is doing now. The psalmist said that God is in control of the weather, international relationships, and the deepest dimensions of human experience. God is watching, and He shows a special kind of care for those who love Him.
The good news of God's power did not stop at our conversion. We can enjoy the fresh perspective of the writer of Psalm 33, because God is still doing great things today. To see them, we must renew our understanding of the One who controls our ever-changing world, the One who knows what to permit and how to bring it into judgment. The manifestations of God's handiwork reveal His new song in nature and in man.
--M.R.D.II
Expressing our gratitude to God should be as habitual as our reception of His mercies is constant.
Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God
(Psalm 147:1).
Some people live as if human beings were merely thinking, working machines. This was true of the famous nineteenth-century inventor John Ericson. Although he had been a boyhood friend of the world-renowned violinist Ole Bull, he never went to a concert, saying music was a waste of time. But Ole, undaunted by his friend's attitude, entered the inventor's shop one day and began playing his violin. Ericson objected at first, but saw his listening workmen drop their tools. Soon he too was enthralled. When Mr. Bull stopped playing, Ericson pleaded, "Don't stop! Go on! I never knew until now what has been lacking in my life!"
A similar kind of one-sidedness occurs in the lives of many Christians. They feed their spirit by reading the Bible, praying, and attending church, all of which are necessary. But they stop short of being everything God intends them to be. They fail to cultivate a wide range of interests. They don't listen to inspiring music, nor do they take time to appreciate the mysteries and beauties of God's creation. They are imbalanced people.
But not the psalmist. Having God always at the center of his thought-life motivated him to growth and maturity, making his life broad and complete. His words reveal that he took time to observe God's wonders in nature and that he found music to be a fitting means through which to worship and praise God.
--H.V.L.
Some people see more in a walk around the block than others see in a trip around the world.
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MAY 15
PSALM 100
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, . . . Come before His presence with singing (Psalm 100:1-2).
An old Jewish legend says that after God had created the world He called the angels to Himself and asked them what they thought of it. One of them said, "The only thing lacking is the sound of praise to the Creator." So God created music, and it was heard in the whisper of the wind and in the song of the birds. He also gave man the gift of song. And throughout all the ages, music has blessed multitudes of people.
Music is one of those good things in life we take for granted. Yet, as is so often the case, the world has taken this good gift from God and used it for evil purposes. In our day we're especially aware of its misuse and the shameful behavior so often associated with it. But good music is a blessing from the Lord. It soothes troubled hearts and motivates us to live for Christ. And through it we lift our hearts in praise to the Lord.
When we join voices with fellow believers and lift our hearts in hymns of praise, we honor the Lord, edify our brothers and sisters in Christ, and bring joy to our own lives.
--R.W.D.
No music so pleases God as the heartfelt praises of His saints.
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MAY 16
COLOSSIANS 1:9-19
He is the head of the body, the church (Colossians 1:18).
We can never exaggerate the greatness of Christ. Paul said that "He is the image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15), that "by Him all things were created" (v. 16), and that "He is before all things" (v. 17). As the preeminent person in human history, Christ is worthy of our love and our praise.
In his classic book THE PURSUIT OF GOD, A. W. Tozer paid tribute to Frederick Faber, the Englishman who wrote the song "Faith of Our Fathers." Tozer said, "His love for the person of Christ was so intense that it threatened to consume him; it burned within him as a sweet and holy madness and flowed from his lips like molten gold. In one of his sermons he said, 'Wherever we turn in the church of God, there is Jesus. He is the beginning, middle, and end of everything to us. . . . There is nothing good, nothing holy, nothing beautiful, nothing joyous which He is not to His servants. . . . No one need be downcast, for Jesus is the joy of heaven, and it is His joy to enter into sorrowful hearts. We can exaggerate about many things, but we can never exaggerate our obligation to Jesus, or the compassionate abundance of the love of Jesus to us. All our lives long we might talk of Jesus, and yet we should never come to an end of the sweet things that might be said of Him.'"
Christ deserves our loving adoration. He is truly the preeminent One.
--R.W.D.
When we submit to Jesus' lordship, we'll give Him our worship.
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MAY 17
PSALM 29
This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24).
Blind and deaf from the age of two, Helen Keller was asked by a young boy, "Isn't it the worst thing in the world to be blind?" Smiling, she replied, "Not half so bad as to have two good eyes and see nothing."
Many people with sharp eyesight and acute hearing seem totally unaware of the beautiful sights and pleasing sounds all around them. They never notice the majesty of stately trees, the tranquility of a quiet lake, or the splendor of starry skies. They fail to hear the melodies of singing birds or the gentle rustling of leaves.
God is pleased when we delight in the wonders of His creation and praise Him for them. The Holy Spirit underscored this truth for us when He moved David to write a vivid description of an oriental storm (Psalm 29). Calling it the "voice of the Lord," the psalmist depicted it as coming from the west and sweeping over land, breaking the mighty cedars in the mountain ranges, and stripping bark off the bushes. Later, when chanting this psalm in the temple, awestruck worshipers, visualizing the storm, would cry out, "Glory," giving praise to God.
Stepping outside each morning and breathing the fresh air reminds us to stop a moment and thank God for life. And an approaching storm with its flashing lightning and rolling thunder displays the power of God, prompting us to worship. Observing the sights and sounds around us will motivate us to live for the Lord and to praise Him.
--H.V.L.
Learn to enjoy nature's beauty--it's the handwriting of God.
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MAY 18
PSALM 148
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! (Psalm 146:1).
A music critic for THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS could not find enough good things to say about violinist Itzhak Perlman after he appeared with the Grand Rapids Symphony. The guest soloist had played Tchaikovsky's very difficult "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major" in a way that made it look easy. In his review, the columnist wrote, "He draws the bow up and down so naturally, yet so perfectly, that he can meet the music's rhythmic and expressive demands without appearing to give it any thought or effort. Regardless of the tempo, every note is perfectly clear, perfectly in place rhythmically, perfectly in tune, and perfectly uniform with every other. Every phrase was crafted meticulously and expressively to fit into an overall conception of the concerto which came out sounding alive and exciting. And he played with and against the orchestra in a fascinating dialogue, as he spoke and answered the other instruments in a clear musical conversation."
Such lavish praise bothers me a little. Not because of the honor it gave Perlman--he deserves it. It troubles me because I seldom hear anyone praise God with such soaring abandon. Shouldn't we who know Him speak of His majesty and wondrous works with that same enthusiasm and detail?
Surely our heavenly Father deserves as much praise for creating the violinist as the violinist deserves for displaying his God-given talent.
--M.R.D.II
If Christians believed God more, the world would doubt Him less.
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MAY 19
PSALM 33:1-11
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! . . . Sing to Him a new song (Psalm 33:1, 3).
Singing has always played a vital role in reverence. Worshipers sang psalms in the temple, often in the form of beautiful antiphons. First, the soloist and the choir would respond to one another, then the choir and the worshipers would do the same. Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn after the Lord's supper (Mt 26:30). Paul encouraged believers to address one another with "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" (Eph 5:19).
The purpose of singing is not simply to prepare worshipers for the sermon. If so, singing would be just a gimmick. Paul would have frowned on such an idea because he was convinced that the gospel alone, truthfully proclaimed, is "the power of God to salvation" (Ro1:16). We sing because it is an effective way to express our adoration, our supplication, or our testimony. Through song we praise our God and edify one another.
The writer of Psalm 33 called upon the worshiping Israelites to sing praise to God for His powerful word, His unfailing counsels, and His continual concern for His people. Paul and Silas, in prison with their feet in stocks and their backs raw from a brutal flogging, sang because they were filled with the joy of salvation.
If we truly love the Lord, we will join enthusiastically with others in praising Him through song. And when we are alone and our heart is full of praise, we can sing without concern for how it sounds. The Lord is pleased with any melody of praise that comes from the heart.
--H.V.L.
Music expresses what we cannot put into words, but about which we cannot keep silent.
