Praising our God (Part Two)

O come, let us sing to the LORD…For he is our God. (Psalm 95:1, 7 NRSV)

We’ve seen in Psalm 95 that corporate worship involves a movement towards the presence of God and a degree of intensity. In this devotion we focus on the God who is at the centre of our public praises.

The psalmist brings out four aspects of the God we worship for us to consider.

First, God is ‘a great God.’ (v.3) Worship recognises the supreme majesty and worth of God. It is to be our response when we recognise that we are in the presence of the one who is in himself the sum of all love, goodness, holiness and beauty. In the end, worship says God is God, and this God is supremely great and perfect.

Second, God is incomparable: ‘a great King above all gods’ (v.3).This doesn’t mean that God is just the best of a whole bunch of gods, rather he is unique. He is the one before whom everything else fades. We are not worshipping a deity of our making; this one is the one who is above everything else.

Third, God is the ruler of everything he has created: ‘In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed.’ (v.4-5) God is creator, who alone has done what no creature can do: make something out of nothing. He is also sustainer. What God formed, he holds. Without him we would not exist or continue to exist, and so it is God alone who is the object of our worship.

Fourth, God is our God: ‘the rock of our salvation… is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.’ (v.1, 7) He is the God who is for us, who has saved us, and made us his people.

And so as his people ‘let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!’ (v.6).

What really goes on when we gather together for worship?

We come into the presence this God, the great one, the one beyond compare, the God of creation, the God who is our God, and this One speaks his Word to us making himself known.

We are caught up in the chief purpose of God’s creatures, which is to worship him; and as we do so our worship flows into all aspects of our life.

Thankfully we are not left to do this on our own. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit is in us, leading our worship. And because of that, our worship will be fruitful and joyous.

May we listen to God’s voice (v.7) and come to worship.

Have a good week exalting God

Pastor Barry