House of the Lord
Volume Twenty Seven — View Song — — Get the Free Devo App
Shout to God, all the Earth; Sing the glory of His name Give to Him glorious praise. Say to God, how awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you. And sings praises to you. They sing praises to Your name. (Psalm 66:1-4)
The memory is as clear as the moment it happened. I had traveled to Breckinridge, Colorado with a few of my closest friends for a three-day prayer retreat. Being from Texas, it was not only my first time in the mountains, but it was also my first time to feel the mingled sense of awe and smallness that only the majesty of the mountains can stir within the human heart.
Now, a more mild-mannered person might have sat in silence for a moment to take it all in but what did I do? I began to shout and sing at the top of my lungs of the glory of a God who could create and sustain such beautiful things. What was even more compelling than the sight of the mountains was the reality that they were only a mere glimpse of His glory on display. Only the slightest hint at the grandeur of our God and yet the sight of them stirred such emotion within me that I couldn’t help but respond. I couldn’t help but shout. I couldn’t help but sing and that is exactly what the glory of God should draw out of us, an extravagant response to an extravagantly glorious God. Whether that response is one of jubilant adulation or reverent awe, with every revelation of His glory is an invitation and a command to respond.
Echoing throughout every page of Scripture is the undeniable truth that God’s glory is the ultimate end of all that He does. He is motivated by a zeal for His glory, His name, His reputation, His majesty, His character, His attributes, His “weightiness”, and His glorious deeds to be seen, to be known and to be magnified throughout all creation and for all eternity.
Everything that He created is for His glory. Everything that He purposes is for His glory. Everything that He allows is for His glory. From the intricately beautiful world that He made, to the extravagance of His love displayed in the offering of His beloved Son to atone for sinners like you and me––Every movement of God is for the glory of God.
It is common for believers to affirm that the praise of God’s glory is a result of His action, but it is not as common to affirm that the praise of His glory is actually the goal and purpose of all that He does. If it is indeed true that God’s glory is the ultimate end of all that He does, then as His very own image-bearing, ransomed-and-redeemed children, it should also be our ultimate aim in all things. In the day-to-day effort of our individual lives to the holy moments when we get to gather together as believers to remind one another of who He is and what He has done - We make it our aim to unapologetically make much of Him. With our very lives, we embody what the prophet Isaiah confessed in Isaiah 26:8; “Your name and Your remembrance are the desire of our souls”.
Not only are His name and His glory the desire of our souls but they are also the source of our greatest JOY. It is a joy that doesn’t rise and fall with the highs and lows of our life circumstances. It is a joy that is deeply rooted in the belief that the sovereign Author of all creation, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of covenant promises, the God who redeems our lives from the pit, the God who upholds and sustains all things by the word of His power is good and infinitely sufficient to fill every void and satisfy every longing!
Let the knowledge of His glory compel you today! As you consider His awesome deeds, join the anthem of all the earth and sing out the glorious praise of an incomprehensibly glorious God!
