O Lord, Our Lord
Psalm 8
What was it like the first time you saw just how insignificant and small you are compared to the wonder and awe of creation?
Can you actually remember what you felt? Do you remember where you were and what you were thinking? Were you speechless?
In 2007, I was allowed to go to Iraq, and it was in the first couple of weeks that I was there, I remember I had a restless night. I left my “tin can” (as we came to call them because they are so small, and we were like sardines trapped in a can without all the really bad smell). And I remember walking around the perimeter of our base, in the middle of nowhere in the desert. It’s nighttime but still hot. I was thinking about life. I remember looking up and seeing the stars and thinking, “I can’t even count these stars.”
And then I remember seeing something that caught my eye, and I thought, “What in the world is that?” I was looking at the Milky Way galaxy. I was staring at it, and I remember thinking, “I am so small right now.”
Check this out. There’s a galaxy known Alcyoneus galaxy, which is one hundred times larger than the Milky Way galaxy. One hundred times larger! But I remember, and I say that because I want you to get the picture of just how small we really are, in that moment, thinking how small and insignificant I was compared to all that the Creator of the world had spoken into existence and is even now sustaining everything – right now at this very moment.
Now, have you ever been in a situation, circumstance, or conversation where you left contemplating and marveling at the goodness and greatness of the Creator of the world? What was that like for you?
Did you break out into worship, praise, and declaration of God’s greatness? Were you left speechless at the majesty and wonder of God’s hand in the situation, circumstance, or conversation?
Were you able to recognize the Creator of the Universe’s Handiwork and Fingerprints in the midst of your experience?
I’m telling you; a lot has happened this week. I’m going to tell you about it, even though I don’t want to tell you about it because it’s very traumatic. Last Tuesday, I was on my way home, driving in my car to my wife and my son. And I was stopped on Gilman Springs Road because there was an accident in front of me about a mile away, and I was behind this truck and this trailer. And I was talking to my wife. And I remember looking up into my rearview mirror and seeing a black car barreling down at me, easily doing fifty to sixty miles an hour. I’m on the phone with my wife. And I remember saying, okay, here we go. And I remember bracing for the impact. And that car slams into the back of my car.
And it’s so powerful that it actually launches me into the next lane, as a truck is coming head-on with me. And I remember seeing the truck and then seeing the guy’s face, and he’s looking at me, and I was thinking, “This is it, Lord. I’m done.” I remember thinking I’m going to pull the steering wheel to the left. (And even now, when I talk about it, it’s crazy.) And I go left, and the other guy goes left; as I’m veering left, there’s an embankment. The Lord uses that guy’s truck to hit my car and to push me up onto this dirt ridge, stopping me from going over the embankment.
And I kid you not. I stopped right next to a pink cross where someone had died in that exact spot. I don’t know how many years, days ago. And I left that experience because I had conversations with the other drivers, found out that one of the drivers was a pastor, and ended up praying with the other drivers. The Lord was just totally in it. His fingerprint and handiwork were totally in it. But I left that encounter being reminded of these truths.
God is always moving and always working
God is always drawing people to Himself
God always cares about and protects His children
God always sees me and is always with me
Although I am a mere speck and a vapor in this world, the People Creator knows me intimately and preserves my life
God used that accident to, what I think, reveal to the other driver, who was not a believer, “Hey, you might not think that I’m present, but you should be dead.” And this isn’t the truck. This is the guy that smacked into the back of me. His car was demolished.
This story isn’t new. Every single one of you in this room has this kind of story where God has divinely orchestrated and placed himself in your life to draw you closer to him. You might not like it. Or you might even be asking for it – “God, I just want to know you deeper.”
This morning we all are here because the Creator of the Heaven and the Earth has deemed it to be. We are here because our Eternal King has a plan and a purpose for each of us. We are here because God is not done with every single one of us.
God alone knows exactly what He has planned for us. He alone holds you in the palm of His hands and wants us to truly experience a life-transforming relationship with Him.
This morning God wants to meet us face-to-face. The Creator of the World, the One who spoke the Blue Whale and the Carpenter Ant into existence, the One who smiled upon the Sloth and who gazed upon the mighty Tyrannosaurs Rex, wants us to experience an intimate, vibrant, and abundant love relationship with Him; because He doesn’t want us to miss out on all He has planned and prepared for us!
Please join me in prayer as we prepare to come face-to-face with God as we encounter Him in His Word, through the Holy Spirit, and by having daily and intimate time with Him…Every Single Day!
This morning we will be journeying through Psalm 8. And the powerful reality of this particular Psalm is rooted in verse 4, which we will get to rather quickly. But for now, I want us to consider this…God doesn’t NEED us, but He CARES for us.
Psalm 8:1 (NLT)
1 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.
Now, it’s very important for us to be reminded that this is David who wrote Psalm 8. We know much about the shepherd boy anointed King of Israel, who would come to be known as “A man after God’s own heart.”
You can read the whole story of David starting in 1 Samuel and also 2 Samuel, and I encourage you to do so, but for this morning, we know this…
We know that David is known as “A man after God’s own heart” because he consistently sought after God’s heart. David absolutely had a vibrant, life-transforming, and intimate relationship with the Creator of the Universe. David was known by God, and The Relationship Initiator knew David personally and intimately.
I’m going to unpack the phrase “relationship initiator.” It simply means – God initiates a relationship with you. It’s that simple. Not us. The Lord does. We don’t seek after God – none of us did. HE allows us to come to him. That’s huge because it’s the Lord, our Lord, who creates and initiates a relationship with us.
Look at how David starts this Psalm…
He says, “O Lord, our Lord, Your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.
Notice what David does first; he declares the Lord “Yahweh” (this is the Name above all names – this is the IAM THAT I AM, I’ve always Existed, I was never Created, I will Always Be), this is who David is declaring “Yahweh” as The Lord. He declares “Yahweh” as Ruler and King over everything even before he declares “Yahweh” as our Lord, our God, our Yahweh, the One who is Israel’s Lord.
David subjects and submits himself before the Creator of the world in total reverence and awe of who God is. Period! I think oftentimes, we think of it as the other way around. We think of it as we are the ones who come to the Lord. But it’s just simply not how it happens. Is that hard to hear this morning? Does it make sense? I hope it does because what I am trying to do this morning is to show you that you are insignificant. I’m insignificant. That might be really hard to hear, but I’m saying it because it is really going to drive home the fact that God doesn’t need us, but man, does he care about us! Man, does he love us! He sees you! He knows you! He wants you, not because he needs you, but because you need him because of everything that he wants to do in and through your life.
David is allowed to understand that there is nowhere God’s name is not known. His splendor and glory and greatness, whether acknowledged or not, seen or unseen, respected or not respected, has and will continue to exist eternally.
Psalm 96:4-6 (NLT)
4 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods.
5 The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens!
6 Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill his sanctuary.
When I read these truths out loud, my entire being is shaken to the core. This is the Creator of all the world! This is the sustainer of everything! This is the Holy and Blameless One! This is THE LORD!
I don’t know about you, but I am both in awe and in fear of the LORD! How can anyone not be transformed and radically changed by this face-to-face encounter with the Creator of the World?
Imagine, just for a brief moment, what would happen to every single one of us this morning if THE LORD appeared before us face-to-face? The One whose strength and beauty fill His sanctuary! The Creator and Relationship Initiator who made us to have a vibrant and intimate relationship with Him!
I guarantee none of us would leave here unchanged. But the reality is this…THE LORD has appeared to us. He is constantly revealing Himself in His Word. He is revealing Himself through the Holy Spirit. He is revealing Himself through His creation. The Lord is always at work. He is always moving. He is always going to be the Eternal King!
And guess what? The Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the sky and all things that exist within them, uses the supposed weak and useless things in the world to shame the proud, haughty, and arrogant.
Look at verse 2.
Psalm 8:2 (NLT)
2 You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.
This verse reminds me that The Lord often times accomplishes His plans and His purposes by using the most unlikely people. I am often times left in wonder by the wisdom and faith of a child who declares eternal truths about who God is.
We had Vacation Bible School a couple of weeks ago, and it was pretty powerful. I can’t remember what day it was, but it was where we were trying to drive home the truth that Jesus loves you no matter what. I’m in the children’s ministry room, which they do an amazing job back there (I’m so thankful for all who work in children’s ministry), and I’m sitting in that room next to a couple of the kids, and this girl starts to ask me about my “nub,” which is what I call it. It’s a thing.
And I’m explaining to her what happened, which is actually, by the way – yesterday – fifteen years ago is when this happened on my twentieth birthday (which was an explosive experience). But she looks at me, and I know what it’s like when you’re staring into somebody’s soul because I do it. I love to do it; it lets people know I’m actually paying attention to you; I see you. Even though people look at you, they might not actually see you. I like to stare into people’s souls (it makes them feel a little uncomfortable), and sometimes they really enjoy it.
She was staring into my soul, and I was like, what are you doing? This is what this feels like! Get out of my mind! I don’t want you to see me! And she looks at me, and she’s like, “Hey. Even though you’re missing your hand, that doesn’t mean that Jesus loves you any less.”
When she said it, it hit me hardcore. And I wanted to cry. It stayed with me. And I thought that is God using a child to remind me that he loves me no matter what I look like. So powerful.
The amazing reality is that God uses the seemingly weak and useless people we brush off so quickly to accomplish His plans and His purposes. He does this so that all the haughty, proud, and arrogant people would be reminded of just how insignificant they really are in the wake of God’s glory and greatness.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (NLT)
27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.
29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
God’s ways and His thoughts will always be infinitely greater and eternally grandeur than yours or mine. Yes, God will use a child to proclaim His eternal truths because it serves as a reminder that He is against the proud, arrogant, and seemingly wise of this world.
Oftentimes, the Lord uses a child’s faith and spoken biblical truths in my life to help me battle a tendency I have to lean on and trust in my own understanding and academic education over and above the leadership of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word.
It is a humbling and painful reminder when it happens, but I thank our Lord that He disciplines and corrects those He loves.
Look with me now at verses 3-5…
Psalm 8:3-5 (NLT)
3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers – the moon and the stars you set in place –
4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?
5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.
These verses are so powerful. Remember earlier, when I told you the story about being in Iraq and feeling so small when I looked up and was able to see countless stars and the Milky Way Galaxy?
Well, these verses are supposed to make us feel really small and seemingly insignificant.
Think about it for a moment again…every single star, every single planet, every single creature in the sky and the sea has God’s fingerprint and His handiwork written all over them.
There is nothing that does not exist simply to exist. Everything God created and spoke into existence has a purpose.
Psalm 135:5-7 (NASB)
5 For I know that the Lord is great. And that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.
7 He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries.
Notice that the last verses in this Psalm are not a question about who but a declaration. The Lord is great and mighty to be praised. The Lord is the everlasting God and the One who never changes.
He calls forth lighting and makes the rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous. He is far above it all, and He is seated on His throne as Ruler, King, Creator, and Sustainer.
But, this same God, this same Lord, is also actively involved in our lives. He CARES for us! Yes, we may feel small and insignificant at times when we come face-to-face with the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the sky and everything that is in them.
But the Lord is an intimate and relational God. He desires a life-transforming relationship with us. He is a jealous God and wants all of us, not just pieces and parts of OUR lives.
I want us to stop and ask ourselves a few questions this morning. When was the last time WE had an encounter with the living and all-consuming Creator of the Universe? When was the last time WE really sensed and felt the Holy Spirit’s presence moving and actively leading us?
Where is OUR love relationship with the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the sky and all that exists within them?
The reality is this; WE can actually have a vibrant and intimate relationship with the majestic Creator and Lord of all. He isn’t some far-off and uninvolved deity we simply cannot approach.
Granted, if you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ, if you have never repented of your sin and asked Jesus to forgive you and to be your Lord and Savior and King, if you have never experienced a transformation from death to life because of what Jesus did on the cross, then you truly are condemned.
John 3:16-18 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
This morning, the Eternal and Forever King wants us to be reminded that He is OUR ever-present and all-consuming fire. God is a person who actively seeks real, vibrant, and intimate relationships with us.
The Lord, Our Lord, wants us to not simply believe in Him but to converse with us. God wants a personal relationship with us, and He will remind us of our own insignificance in order to draw us into a deeper relationship with Himself.
The Lord, Our Lord, knows exactly what our lives can become. He alone knows exactly what He wants to accomplish in and through us. This is the Lord, our Lord, who created everything! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever more.
Think about that for a few moments. How can we not be radically changed and daily desire and seek to have an intimate and vibrant relationship with God, knowing that the Creator of everything wants us!
2 Timothy 1:9-10 (NIV)
9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
This morning, The Creator of All desires and is actively pursuing every single one of us. This morning we saw some of our family publicly profess and confess that they have already made Jesus their Lord and Savior through baptism.
They understand that their identity and who they are is rooted in Jesus. For them, obeying God is not optional. But by obeying the Lord, Our Lord, He has radically transformed and is continually changing their lives.
Galatians 2:20 (ESV)
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Do you see just how much God CARES for us? He does not NEED us, but He CARES for us!
Here are a few questions for us as we close this morning…
Can WE really leave this morning and not be changed in some way?
Is it possible to come face-to-face with the Creator of All through His Word and by the work of the Holy Spirit and remain the same?
Do you desire a deeper, more intimate, and vibrant love relationship with the Lord, our Lord?
Do you want to experience greater joy and better know what God’s will is in your life?
My challenge for all of us this morning, then, is this…
Get alone with the Lord, our Lord, and really ask Him to search our hearts. Ask the Lord, Our Lord, to examine our ways and to refine them.
Take your hidden sin before the Lord, our Lord, and ask Him to give you victory over it.
Make time for the Lord, our Lord, and watch how He radically transforms your life. One day at a time. One moment at a time. So that we can proclaim…
O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Can you actually remember what you felt? Do you remember where you were and what you were thinking? Were you speechless?
In 2007, I was allowed to go to Iraq, and it was in the first couple of weeks that I was there, I remember I had a restless night. I left my “tin can” (as we came to call them because they are so small, and we were like sardines trapped in a can without all the really bad smell). And I remember walking around the perimeter of our base, in the middle of nowhere in the desert. It’s nighttime but still hot. I was thinking about life. I remember looking up and seeing the stars and thinking, “I can’t even count these stars.”
And then I remember seeing something that caught my eye, and I thought, “What in the world is that?” I was looking at the Milky Way galaxy. I was staring at it, and I remember thinking, “I am so small right now.”
Check this out. There’s a galaxy known Alcyoneus galaxy, which is one hundred times larger than the Milky Way galaxy. One hundred times larger! But I remember, and I say that because I want you to get the picture of just how small we really are, in that moment, thinking how small and insignificant I was compared to all that the Creator of the world had spoken into existence and is even now sustaining everything – right now at this very moment.
Now, have you ever been in a situation, circumstance, or conversation where you left contemplating and marveling at the goodness and greatness of the Creator of the world? What was that like for you?
Did you break out into worship, praise, and declaration of God’s greatness? Were you left speechless at the majesty and wonder of God’s hand in the situation, circumstance, or conversation?
Were you able to recognize the Creator of the Universe’s Handiwork and Fingerprints in the midst of your experience?
I’m telling you; a lot has happened this week. I’m going to tell you about it, even though I don’t want to tell you about it because it’s very traumatic. Last Tuesday, I was on my way home, driving in my car to my wife and my son. And I was stopped on Gilman Springs Road because there was an accident in front of me about a mile away, and I was behind this truck and this trailer. And I was talking to my wife. And I remember looking up into my rearview mirror and seeing a black car barreling down at me, easily doing fifty to sixty miles an hour. I’m on the phone with my wife. And I remember saying, okay, here we go. And I remember bracing for the impact. And that car slams into the back of my car.
And it’s so powerful that it actually launches me into the next lane, as a truck is coming head-on with me. And I remember seeing the truck and then seeing the guy’s face, and he’s looking at me, and I was thinking, “This is it, Lord. I’m done.” I remember thinking I’m going to pull the steering wheel to the left. (And even now, when I talk about it, it’s crazy.) And I go left, and the other guy goes left; as I’m veering left, there’s an embankment. The Lord uses that guy’s truck to hit my car and to push me up onto this dirt ridge, stopping me from going over the embankment.
And I kid you not. I stopped right next to a pink cross where someone had died in that exact spot. I don’t know how many years, days ago. And I left that experience because I had conversations with the other drivers, found out that one of the drivers was a pastor, and ended up praying with the other drivers. The Lord was just totally in it. His fingerprint and handiwork were totally in it. But I left that encounter being reminded of these truths.
God is always moving and always working
God is always drawing people to Himself
God always cares about and protects His children
God always sees me and is always with me
Although I am a mere speck and a vapor in this world, the People Creator knows me intimately and preserves my life
God used that accident to, what I think, reveal to the other driver, who was not a believer, “Hey, you might not think that I’m present, but you should be dead.” And this isn’t the truck. This is the guy that smacked into the back of me. His car was demolished.
This story isn’t new. Every single one of you in this room has this kind of story where God has divinely orchestrated and placed himself in your life to draw you closer to him. You might not like it. Or you might even be asking for it – “God, I just want to know you deeper.”
This morning we all are here because the Creator of the Heaven and the Earth has deemed it to be. We are here because our Eternal King has a plan and a purpose for each of us. We are here because God is not done with every single one of us.
God alone knows exactly what He has planned for us. He alone holds you in the palm of His hands and wants us to truly experience a life-transforming relationship with Him.
This morning God wants to meet us face-to-face. The Creator of the World, the One who spoke the Blue Whale and the Carpenter Ant into existence, the One who smiled upon the Sloth and who gazed upon the mighty Tyrannosaurs Rex, wants us to experience an intimate, vibrant, and abundant love relationship with Him; because He doesn’t want us to miss out on all He has planned and prepared for us!
Please join me in prayer as we prepare to come face-to-face with God as we encounter Him in His Word, through the Holy Spirit, and by having daily and intimate time with Him…Every Single Day!
This morning we will be journeying through Psalm 8. And the powerful reality of this particular Psalm is rooted in verse 4, which we will get to rather quickly. But for now, I want us to consider this…God doesn’t NEED us, but He CARES for us.
Psalm 8:1 (NLT)
1 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.
Now, it’s very important for us to be reminded that this is David who wrote Psalm 8. We know much about the shepherd boy anointed King of Israel, who would come to be known as “A man after God’s own heart.”
You can read the whole story of David starting in 1 Samuel and also 2 Samuel, and I encourage you to do so, but for this morning, we know this…
We know that David is known as “A man after God’s own heart” because he consistently sought after God’s heart. David absolutely had a vibrant, life-transforming, and intimate relationship with the Creator of the Universe. David was known by God, and The Relationship Initiator knew David personally and intimately.
I’m going to unpack the phrase “relationship initiator.” It simply means – God initiates a relationship with you. It’s that simple. Not us. The Lord does. We don’t seek after God – none of us did. HE allows us to come to him. That’s huge because it’s the Lord, our Lord, who creates and initiates a relationship with us.
Look at how David starts this Psalm…
He says, “O Lord, our Lord, Your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.
Notice what David does first; he declares the Lord “Yahweh” (this is the Name above all names – this is the IAM THAT I AM, I’ve always Existed, I was never Created, I will Always Be), this is who David is declaring “Yahweh” as The Lord. He declares “Yahweh” as Ruler and King over everything even before he declares “Yahweh” as our Lord, our God, our Yahweh, the One who is Israel’s Lord.
David subjects and submits himself before the Creator of the world in total reverence and awe of who God is. Period! I think oftentimes, we think of it as the other way around. We think of it as we are the ones who come to the Lord. But it’s just simply not how it happens. Is that hard to hear this morning? Does it make sense? I hope it does because what I am trying to do this morning is to show you that you are insignificant. I’m insignificant. That might be really hard to hear, but I’m saying it because it is really going to drive home the fact that God doesn’t need us, but man, does he care about us! Man, does he love us! He sees you! He knows you! He wants you, not because he needs you, but because you need him because of everything that he wants to do in and through your life.
David is allowed to understand that there is nowhere God’s name is not known. His splendor and glory and greatness, whether acknowledged or not, seen or unseen, respected or not respected, has and will continue to exist eternally.
Psalm 96:4-6 (NLT)
4 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods.
5 The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens!
6 Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill his sanctuary.
When I read these truths out loud, my entire being is shaken to the core. This is the Creator of all the world! This is the sustainer of everything! This is the Holy and Blameless One! This is THE LORD!
I don’t know about you, but I am both in awe and in fear of the LORD! How can anyone not be transformed and radically changed by this face-to-face encounter with the Creator of the World?
Imagine, just for a brief moment, what would happen to every single one of us this morning if THE LORD appeared before us face-to-face? The One whose strength and beauty fill His sanctuary! The Creator and Relationship Initiator who made us to have a vibrant and intimate relationship with Him!
I guarantee none of us would leave here unchanged. But the reality is this…THE LORD has appeared to us. He is constantly revealing Himself in His Word. He is revealing Himself through the Holy Spirit. He is revealing Himself through His creation. The Lord is always at work. He is always moving. He is always going to be the Eternal King!
And guess what? The Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the sky and all things that exist within them, uses the supposed weak and useless things in the world to shame the proud, haughty, and arrogant.
Look at verse 2.
Psalm 8:2 (NLT)
2 You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.
This verse reminds me that The Lord often times accomplishes His plans and His purposes by using the most unlikely people. I am often times left in wonder by the wisdom and faith of a child who declares eternal truths about who God is.
We had Vacation Bible School a couple of weeks ago, and it was pretty powerful. I can’t remember what day it was, but it was where we were trying to drive home the truth that Jesus loves you no matter what. I’m in the children’s ministry room, which they do an amazing job back there (I’m so thankful for all who work in children’s ministry), and I’m sitting in that room next to a couple of the kids, and this girl starts to ask me about my “nub,” which is what I call it. It’s a thing.
And I’m explaining to her what happened, which is actually, by the way – yesterday – fifteen years ago is when this happened on my twentieth birthday (which was an explosive experience). But she looks at me, and I know what it’s like when you’re staring into somebody’s soul because I do it. I love to do it; it lets people know I’m actually paying attention to you; I see you. Even though people look at you, they might not actually see you. I like to stare into people’s souls (it makes them feel a little uncomfortable), and sometimes they really enjoy it.
She was staring into my soul, and I was like, what are you doing? This is what this feels like! Get out of my mind! I don’t want you to see me! And she looks at me, and she’s like, “Hey. Even though you’re missing your hand, that doesn’t mean that Jesus loves you any less.”
When she said it, it hit me hardcore. And I wanted to cry. It stayed with me. And I thought that is God using a child to remind me that he loves me no matter what I look like. So powerful.
The amazing reality is that God uses the seemingly weak and useless people we brush off so quickly to accomplish His plans and His purposes. He does this so that all the haughty, proud, and arrogant people would be reminded of just how insignificant they really are in the wake of God’s glory and greatness.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (NLT)
27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.
29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
God’s ways and His thoughts will always be infinitely greater and eternally grandeur than yours or mine. Yes, God will use a child to proclaim His eternal truths because it serves as a reminder that He is against the proud, arrogant, and seemingly wise of this world.
Oftentimes, the Lord uses a child’s faith and spoken biblical truths in my life to help me battle a tendency I have to lean on and trust in my own understanding and academic education over and above the leadership of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word.
It is a humbling and painful reminder when it happens, but I thank our Lord that He disciplines and corrects those He loves.
Look with me now at verses 3-5…
Psalm 8:3-5 (NLT)
3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers – the moon and the stars you set in place –
4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?
5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.
These verses are so powerful. Remember earlier, when I told you the story about being in Iraq and feeling so small when I looked up and was able to see countless stars and the Milky Way Galaxy?
Well, these verses are supposed to make us feel really small and seemingly insignificant.
Think about it for a moment again…every single star, every single planet, every single creature in the sky and the sea has God’s fingerprint and His handiwork written all over them.
There is nothing that does not exist simply to exist. Everything God created and spoke into existence has a purpose.
Psalm 135:5-7 (NASB)
5 For I know that the Lord is great. And that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.
7 He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries.
Notice that the last verses in this Psalm are not a question about who but a declaration. The Lord is great and mighty to be praised. The Lord is the everlasting God and the One who never changes.
He calls forth lighting and makes the rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous. He is far above it all, and He is seated on His throne as Ruler, King, Creator, and Sustainer.
But, this same God, this same Lord, is also actively involved in our lives. He CARES for us! Yes, we may feel small and insignificant at times when we come face-to-face with the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the sky and everything that is in them.
But the Lord is an intimate and relational God. He desires a life-transforming relationship with us. He is a jealous God and wants all of us, not just pieces and parts of OUR lives.
I want us to stop and ask ourselves a few questions this morning. When was the last time WE had an encounter with the living and all-consuming Creator of the Universe? When was the last time WE really sensed and felt the Holy Spirit’s presence moving and actively leading us?
Where is OUR love relationship with the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the sky and all that exists within them?
The reality is this; WE can actually have a vibrant and intimate relationship with the majestic Creator and Lord of all. He isn’t some far-off and uninvolved deity we simply cannot approach.
Granted, if you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ, if you have never repented of your sin and asked Jesus to forgive you and to be your Lord and Savior and King, if you have never experienced a transformation from death to life because of what Jesus did on the cross, then you truly are condemned.
John 3:16-18 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
This morning, the Eternal and Forever King wants us to be reminded that He is OUR ever-present and all-consuming fire. God is a person who actively seeks real, vibrant, and intimate relationships with us.
The Lord, Our Lord, wants us to not simply believe in Him but to converse with us. God wants a personal relationship with us, and He will remind us of our own insignificance in order to draw us into a deeper relationship with Himself.
The Lord, Our Lord, knows exactly what our lives can become. He alone knows exactly what He wants to accomplish in and through us. This is the Lord, our Lord, who created everything! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever more.
Think about that for a few moments. How can we not be radically changed and daily desire and seek to have an intimate and vibrant relationship with God, knowing that the Creator of everything wants us!
2 Timothy 1:9-10 (NIV)
9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
This morning, The Creator of All desires and is actively pursuing every single one of us. This morning we saw some of our family publicly profess and confess that they have already made Jesus their Lord and Savior through baptism.
They understand that their identity and who they are is rooted in Jesus. For them, obeying God is not optional. But by obeying the Lord, Our Lord, He has radically transformed and is continually changing their lives.
Galatians 2:20 (ESV)
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Do you see just how much God CARES for us? He does not NEED us, but He CARES for us!
Here are a few questions for us as we close this morning…
Can WE really leave this morning and not be changed in some way?
Is it possible to come face-to-face with the Creator of All through His Word and by the work of the Holy Spirit and remain the same?
Do you desire a deeper, more intimate, and vibrant love relationship with the Lord, our Lord?
Do you want to experience greater joy and better know what God’s will is in your life?
My challenge for all of us this morning, then, is this…
Get alone with the Lord, our Lord, and really ask Him to search our hearts. Ask the Lord, Our Lord, to examine our ways and to refine them.
Take your hidden sin before the Lord, our Lord, and ask Him to give you victory over it.
Make time for the Lord, our Lord, and watch how He radically transforms your life. One day at a time. One moment at a time. So that we can proclaim…
O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!