Focus On God

“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.” – Psalm 29:2

 

Christian author J.I. Packer wrote the following: “To worship God is to recognize his worth or worthiness; to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all appropriate ways the value of what we see. The Bible calls this activity "glorifying God" or "giving glory to God," and views it as the ultimate end, and from one point of view, the whole duty of man (Ps. 29:2; 96:6; 1 Cor. 10:31).

Scripture views the glorifying of God as a six-fold activity: praising God for all that he is and all his achievements; thanking him for his gifts and his goodness to us; asking him to meet our own and others' needs; offering him our gifts, our service, and ourselves; learning of him from his word, read and preached, and obeying his voice; telling others of his worth, both by public confession and testimony to what he has done for us. Thus we might say that the basic formulas of worship are these: "Lord, you are wonderful"; "Thank you, Lord"; "Please Lord"; "Take this, Lord"; "Yes, Lord"; "Listen everybody!"

This then is worship in its largest sense: petition as well as praise, preaching as well as prayer, hearing as well as speaking, actions as well as words, obeying as well as offering, loving people as well as loving God. However, the primary acts of worship are those which focus on God directly, and we must not imagine that work for God in the world is a substitute for direct fellowship with him in praise and prayer and devotion.”

 

Do you actively talk and listen to the Lord? Today in prayer, remember the Lord throughout the day, focusing on Him and worshiping Him. 

 

“You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love. Let us run.”—Augustine of Hippo

 

God’s Word: “Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.” – Psalm 96:9