Psalm 135: The Doing God

Today’s reading is Psalm 135.

Greater Than All Other Gods

For I know that the LORD is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
Psalm 135:5 (ESV)

Reading through all the Bible, we can find many reasons YHWH is greater than anything or anyone else parading around pretending to be divine. This week’s psalm brings what is perhaps the greatest reason to the surface.

Whatever the LORD pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
Psalm 135:6 (ESV)

By contrast, the idols of the nations do absolutely nothing.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
Psalm 135:15-17 (ESV)

YHWH is a doing God. He is a making God. The idols are do-nothing gods. In fact, they don’t make anything but are themselves made by people. Granted, as we’ve learned before, the pagans didn’t believe the statues themselves were the gods. YHWH’s point is a bit more nuanced than that. Any god that can be represented by a handmade statue can’t be that much of a god. That is the main reason YHWH refuses to be represented by statuary and icons.

But let’s be clear why this point about God is so important. It’s not important simply because YHWH is powerful and idols are impotent. The real importance is seen for us in Ephesians 2:8-10:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (ESV).

Salvation is only possible because God is a doing God. That word “workmanship” can be literally translated “doing.” We are God’s “doing.” The re-creation we experience as we grow in Jesus Christ, learning to walk in God’s good works, is God’s doing. No other supposed god can make us into what God is doing in us and through us. God is recreating us into His very image just like Jesus.

And don’t forget, our God…

…is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Our God does what He pleases. And what pleases Him is saving us and transforming us.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 135.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 135 prompt or improve your trust in God?

Psalm 119:97-112: A Lamp and Light

Today’s reading is Psalm 119 (vss. 97-112).

God’s world, God’s Way

The psalmist repeatedly drives home a question to me.

Do I really believe the world works the way God says it does?

Those who walk in God’s Law and keep His testimonies are blessed, as our psalm began, not because they are qualifying for a prize and meeting the checklist of conditional requirements for God to dole out blessings. They are blessed because God created this world and He knows how it best works. He knows where blessedness lies. His Law, testimonies, Word, precepts, rules, judgments, promises, way, statutes, faithfulness, declarations, commandments, decrees show the way the world works.

God’s Word lights the way of blessedness. God’s Word shows us where to plant our feet and take our next step for blessing. God’s Way, God’s Word works. Frankly, this is the place of faith in our lives. Saving faith is believing where God’s light shines is really the best place to take our next steps.

This helps us understand our biggest dilemma. You see, God’s Word and Way work God’s purposes and goals. If my purposes and goals are different from His, I’m going to struggle all the way along to think His Word and Way actually work. I’ll be like that guy we call the rich, young ruler going away sad because God’s Way and Word won’t work my goals and my purposes.

“But I want to go to heaven,” someone says. “My goal and purpose is obviously the same as God’s.” Is it? I’m increasingly convinced God’s goal and purpose is not to get us to some place new, but to make us into someone new. He isn’t trying to get us to a certain place, but make us into a certain kind of person. The path to a location is very different from the path to transformation. Let’s face it. Attending the Super Bowl is a very different path from playing in it. Even I could attend the Super Bowl. If I got to know the right people or even just decided I was more interested in attending a Super Bowl than I was in so many other things I spend my money on, I could attend a Super Bowl. To play in the Super Bowl would be a painful path of transformation. That latter kind of work is what God is striving to accomplish in me. God isn’t trying to get us into heaven. God is making us into the kind of people who will thrive in His presence. That’s two different things. One is location. The other is transformation.

Of course, my illustration breaks down because in reality, if I don’t become the kind of person who can thrive in God’s presence, I won’t be the kind of person who can actually dwell in heaven. Either way, God lights the way to be that kind of person with His Word. Every other way is darkness and death.

What step will I take next? Let’s make that step one anchored in God’s Word.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 119 (vss. 97-112).

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 119:97-112 prompt or improve my trust in God?

Psalm 112: We Become What We Worship

Today’s reading is Psalm 112.

The Blessings for those Who Worship

Those who fear the Lord are blessed. That is, those who stand in awe, proclaim the majesties, bow in reverence, bask in the glory of God are blessed. Those who worship are blessed. The favored, abundant, blessed life means experiencing the blessing from God. What does that look like?

Some of the blessings seem extrinsic. That is, they seem like external gifts added into the life of the worshiper. The psalmist talks about a blessed family and material blessing. As we read the psalm, we see evidence of stability, security, protection, and victory. These remind us of the favored blessings God promised Israel in Deuteronomy 28. Certainly they are great blessings.

However, the greatest blessing is not what God gives because we worship, but what kind of people we become because we worship God.

Like God, Like Worshiper

In Psalm 111, we read about the fearsome God. The only proper response is to fear. Of course, that leaves the option, doesn’t it? Not everyone responds appropriately. In Psalm 112, we read about the one who responds properly, that is, the one who fears. The most powerful point of this pair of psalms stands out by the parallels between them. In Psalm 111:5, the LORD is gracious and merciful. In Psalm 112:4, the one who fears the LORD is gracious and merciful. In 111:7, the works of God are just. In 112:5, the God-fearer conducts his affairs in justice. In 111:7-8, the precepts of the LORD are established. In 112:8, the heart of the worshiper is established (in the ESV, the word here is translated “steady”). In 111:5, the LORD provides food for those who fear Him. In 112:5, 9, the one in awe of God generously gives to the poor. Perhaps the most shocking, but most clear, comparison: in 111:3, the LORD’s righteousness endures forever. In case we miss it, Psalm 112 states it twice. The righteousness of the God-fearer endures forever (see 112:3, 9).

The greatest reward for fearing the Lord is not an extrinsic gift. The greatest reward is not in houses, crops, clothes, money, wealth, fame, children, or any other external favor. The greatest reward is those who worship God become like God.

Please, do not miss the profound nature of this promise. The great blessing of worship is not earning some bartered gift. God is not saying to us, “Worship me the right way and, completely separate from and having nothing to with the worship itself, I’ll give you some reward.” What more does the person truly in awe of God want than to be with God and to be like God? God explains the road to being like God and being with Him is quite plainly to dwell in awe. Worship transforms us. We, who by sinning have become twisted, distorted, wrecks, may grow to become shining, eternal, heavenly beauties. But the path of growth is quite simply worship.

By keeping our eyes and minds on God, we become like Him. We become what we worship. When we worship the only one worthy of it, we become like Him.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 112.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 112 admonish you?