Monday, July 21, 2014

Have We Earned the Right?

Psalm 135 English Standard Version (ESV)
135 
Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord,
    give praise, O servants of the Lord,
who stand in the house of the Lord,
    in the courts of the house of our God!
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
    sing to his name, for it is pleasant![a]
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
    Israel as his own possession.
For I know that the Lord is great,
    and that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
    in heaven and on earth,
    in the seas and all deeps.
He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
    who makes lightnings for the rain
    and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
    both of man and of beast;
who in your midst, O Egypt,
    sent signs and wonders
    against Pharaoh and all his servants;
10 
who struck down many nations
    and killed mighty kings,
11 
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
    and Og, king of Bashan,
    and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
12 
and gave their land as a heritage,
    a heritage to his people Israel.
13 
Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
    your renown,[b] O Lord, throughout all ages.
14 
For the Lord will vindicate his people
    and have compassion on his servants.
15 
The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
    the work of human hands.
16 
They have mouths, but do not speak;
    they have eyes, but do not see;
17 
they have ears, but do not hear,
    nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 
Those who make them become like them,
    so do all who trust in them.
19 
O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
    O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 
O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
    You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 
Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
    he who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!

As I read this passage this morning two things stood out clearly to me.  The first was in verse 6, He does whatever He pleases.  How many of us think we have earned that right?  Have you ever said, “I’ll do what I please, I don’t care what anyone else says?”  Often times, as we go through maturity these words slip out of our mouths.  It might be at 18, 40, 60, 80 . . .  We may think we have earned the right because of all that we have accomplished in this life.  It seems the older we get the more rights that we think we have.  None of this is true, unless we have formed the clouds, made rain and lightening, or did any of the wonders of our God.  There is always someone older than us who has the only right to do what He pleases.  We need to always strive to please Him in our actions and even our thoughts.  We need to do as He pleases because He knows best.  Sometimes we get that direction from good godly friends whom we love and trust and who God has placed in our lives.

The second thing that stood out to me were verses 15 – 16.  Idols made of gold and silver.  Often times we hear that an idol can be anything that you put in place of God.  These verses specifically are idols that people bow down and worship.  They have no voice and they do not see but people will bow down and worship them.  Those who worship them become deaf to the words of God, they do not see Him, and they do not hear Him. 

Our God can see and He can hear and He is waiting for us to come to Him.  No other god can do as he pleases because he is not God our God is, as I have said before, the One True God.  No other gods have any place in our lives.  Worship and adore Him and do as He pleases.  Seek Him and know that He is the One True God.

Seeking Him with all my heart,


Sheila

No comments:

Post a Comment