Prayer
Great God of heaven and earth, shower Your grace upon us that as we approach You in all Your glory and greatness that we would worship You worthily. Whether we come before You alone in our private worship, or collectively in the congregation of Your people, by Your Spirit gives us minds filled with truth and hearts burning with fervent and intense love and affection for Christ. Amen.
Today’s Hymn
Words: Attributed to Alexander Means. Music: From The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, by William Walker (New York: Hastings House, 1835); arranged by William Jenson Reynolds (1920-).
WHAT WONDROUS LOVE IS THIS?
Click here for tune.
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb Who is the great “I Am”;
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;
While millions join the theme, I will sing.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on.
Thought Provoker
We have before us today what is probably the most succinct, concise and complete praise to God that is assembled in a single Psalm. Spurgeon’s introduction to this Psalm captures its nature best:
It is David’s, David’s very own, David’s favourite. It is David’s Praise just as another (Psalm 86:1-17) is David’s Prayer. It is altogether praise, and praise pitched in a high key. David had blessed God many a time in other psalms, but this he regarded as his peculiar, his crown jewel of praise. Certainly David’s praise is the best of praise, for it is that of a man of experience, of sincerity, of calm deliberation, and of intense warmth of the heart. It is not for any one of us to render David’s praise, for David only could do that, but we may take David’s psalm as a model, and aim at making our own personal adoration as much, like it as possible: we shall be long before we equal our model. Let each Christian reader present his own praise unto the Lord, and call it by his own name. What a wealth of varied praise will thus be presented through Christ Jesus!
Dad’s Study
In this Psalm David praises God for His:
- Glory verses 1-7
- Goodness verses 8-10
- Kingdom verses 11-13
- Providence verses 14-16
- Saving mercy verses 17-21
Verse 3 says, “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.” When David says that God is great it means in His importance, that God Himself is the important One. No one and no thing is more important that Jehovah. What follows from this is that One who by nature is so great should be the object of great praise. This kind of great praise is a praise that is “exceedingly much” and demonstrates the magnitude of the object, Jehovah. The nature of the object of worship should be reflected in the worship itself. We worship a great God who is worthy of the greatest worship. “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev. 4:11). God, and God alone is worthy of such great praise. This attribute of God’s, His personal greatness, is beyond a complete investigation or searching out. God’s greatness is so great that we cannot completely find it out or know it. David, in this Psalm provides great subject matter for this great praise of Jehovah focusing upon attributes and works of God that will evoke a response of worship from those whom are the recipients of His great grace.
Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.
Truth in Practice
How do we “greatly” praise such a great God? Just today I was meditating upon Romans 8:17 and what it means to be a fellow heir with Christ and what lies ahead for all who are united to Him. In looking at the inheritance that awaits us my heart was enthralled to ponder the truth that when we receive that inheritance in full we will be able to perfectly worship Him and His greatness. Now we strive to worship Him worthily, but because of the weakness of our flesh, even with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we fall short in worshipping Him “greatly.” Spurgeon described the “great” praise of God like this, “Praise may be said to be great when the song contains great matter, when the hearts producing it are intensely fervent, and when large numbers unite in the grand acclaim. No chorus is too loud, no orchestra too large, no psalm too lofty for the lauding of the Lord of Hosts.” In other words God is greatly praised when we worship Him in Spirit and truth. God is greatly praised when the song of our lips engages our mind with the truth of His Word and our hearts with a sincere and fervent love and affection for Christ.
Catechism
Question 82
Q. What is meant by the words, until he come, which are used by the apostle Paul in reference to the Lord’s Supper?
A. They plainly teach us that our Lord Jesus Christ will come a second time; which is the joy and hope of all believers (Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16).
