Respond With Integrity

“I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;” Psalms 101:2

It's easy to praise God once we begin to interact with him. This may sound trite, but really, as we as believers begin to read about Jesus in the gospels and his mighty works, or study the story of the Exodus or just in general see the transformation from sinners into saints in or own lives it is easy for us to look at all the evidence and deem God worthy of our praise. Verbally acknowledging that God is a great God is really a no brainer as we truly see what he has revealed to us through his word, the common grace evident in his creation, and the sanctifying power of his Spirit in our souls. And this is what we should do. God is a God who is worthy of receiving our verbal affirmation of His glory and wonder. However, what will often times happen in my life, and I think it is indicative of a deeper problem of culture, is that I will pour myself out with words before God, telling him how great and wonderful he is...and then stop. My praise both begins and ends with words. Whether they are through songs, or prayers, or through conversations with others, I find it easy to praise God with my lips, but then stop. This seems to be a problem with those who interact with God for a long time. Over and over again in the Scriptures, there is evidence of Israel praising God with their sacrifices and laws, or covenants made to God, or all these different things, but then the actions they take apart from their words are completely separated and run counter-intuitive to what we say to God. I do this so often in my own life, and every time I do it, my words become pointless. The proper response to God's presence is first and foremost living righteously with integrity. If we were to say nothing, but act differently, God would be praised more truly. Whenever we as believing people praise God with what we say but insult God by what we do, our praise becomes insulting to God. 

Lord Jesus, please help us to walk not only with words but with integrity. You are worthy of our righteous living and it is your grace that carries us!

Let God Be God

“The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”” Psalms 29:3-9

As a worship pastor, I spend most of my time doing everything I can to get people to worship God. Whether it's discussing song choice and order, whether or not to put chairs out, fiddling with lights, or spending hours practicing with the band to get the bridge to that one song just right, the majority of my week is occupied trying to figure out what I need to do for God to be worshipped. As I was reading this morning and thinking about the above passage, it struck me how silly much of what I do during the week truly is. In truth, I don't have to do anything for God to be worshiped. It is very humbling and horrifyingly awesome to know how great God is. His presence doesn't need to be enhanced by me, or by a certain song, or a lighting effect or any other thing. The only thing necessary for God to be praised is for God to be God. Which he is all the time. I fear that a lot of the things that I do on a Sunday morning or any other time I'm leading worship can distract and keep people from what they really need, which is encountering the true God. God doesn't need our help to be praised, we just need to let him be God and he'll take care of the rest.

Lord Jesus, please give me the humility and wisdom to allow you to make your presence known to those who seek to worship you. Let us not be distractions from the Almighty king, so that as people enter into his holy temple, they can't help but cry "Glory!"