Do we give the Lord the glory do His name?

Weekly Devotion

"Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth." Psalm 96:7-9

Sad to say, more and more people -- even Christians -- take worship very lightly. This is, no doubt, one of the reasons why attendance at church services continues to decline across our land.

When people are asked why they don't go to church, a common reply is: "I don't get anything out of it." But such fail to see that we come to church not only to be edified by the hearing of God's Word and the encouragement of our fellow believers; we come to worship -- to offer up praise and thanksgiving to our God! We come to church, not just to get something out of it, but to put something into it -- to offer up worship and praise to God, our Maker and Redeemer!

The Bible tells us: "Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth" (Psalm 96:7-9).

All people -- all of us -- are called upon to give glory and praise to the Lord God, to the almighty Jehovah God who has created us and all things. We are to bring an offering and enter into His courts with praise. We are to "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" and fear and tremble before Him.

If only people recognized who the Lord is! If only they knew that He is the almighty God, the Creator and Preserver of all things! If only they knew that He holds our very lives in His hands! If only they knew of His fierce wrath against sin and of His abundant mercy and forgiveness in Jesus Christ! Perhaps then they would not neglect to worship Him.

The wise men from the east are a wonderful example for all of us. Guided only by a star and the revelation of God that this star indicated the birth of the promised King of the Jews and the Savior of all mankind, they traveled many miles and for many days, without the modern day comforts of an airliner or an automobile, in search of the Christ Child that they might worship Him and bring Him an offering (Matthew 2:1-12). They came to worship the newborn King, to offer Him gifts and to give Him the glory due His holy name!

What about us? Are we willing to get up on Sunday mornings and drive a few miles that we might enter His courts and offer up worship and praise to our God and Savior? Do we even take time to worship Him on Thanksgiving, a day set aside in our land for giving to God the honor and thanks due His name? Are we willing to bring Him an offering?

Do we recognize that Jesus is Jehovah God in human flesh? Cf. Luke 2:10-12. Do we realize that Jesus is the Creator and Preserver of all things (us included)? Cf. John 1:1ff.; Hebrews 1:1-3. Do we believe that He went to the cross and has redeemed us from sin and death with His holy and precious blood that we might be pardoned and have eternal life through faith in His name? Cf. Revelation 1:5; 1 Peter 1:18-19; John 3:16; Romans 3:21-28.

If we truly consider who Jesus is and what He has done for each and every one of us, will we not "give to [Him] glory and strength ... the glory due His name"? Will we not "bring an offering, and come into His courts"? Will we not "worship [Him] in the beauty of holiness" and "tremble before Him"? Will we not, like the wise men of old, travel however many miles it takes that we might worship the King of kings and our Lord and Savior?

O Dearest Jesus, Son of God and Son of man, our Creator and our Redeemer, we worship and adore You and come into Your courts with praise. Above all, we thank You for shedding Your holy and precious blood to redeem us from our sin and everlasting punishment. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may know You, trust You, and worship and adore You forevermore. Amen.

[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

Editorial on 11/23/2017