July 5, 2009I Chronicles 29:10-16; Psalm 33:1-11“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.”
In I Chronicles 29, King David is nearing the end of his life and rule. He has experienced all the ups and downs, the successes and failures as a human being and as king over God’s people. Now he is preparing the way for his son Solomon and gathering the resources for building the temple. He offers this ascription of praise to God. “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness.” David has learned the great and awesome contrast of God’s everlasting nature over against the fleeting lives of his people including himself. Nothing lasts unless it is rooted in God’s unchanging character. Our most impressive deeds and accomplishments fade as dust before the Lord. So, as people of faith, we place our confidence in our relationship with God. His love never fades and nothing can take it away. Psalm 33 sang it, we read it: “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” In the past few weeks, our summer sermons have been about knowing God and the deepest way we can do that: through his Word. So, who is God? And what is God like? I. God is Holy Does anyone want to venture a guess at what the Bible most often ascribes to God? God certainly is all about love. The Lord is good, patient, kind, merciful and forgiving. But more than anything else, the Bible calls God holy. In the freedom of the Exodus, Moses sings, “Who is like you, O Lord… majestic in holiness, awesome in glory?” (Exodus 15:11). Isaiah sees and hears this in the vision he experienced in the temple. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). Jesus taught us to pray: “Hallowed by thy name” (holy is your name). And the apostle John saw it and heard it in Revelation 4:8. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” There are qualities in God that we will never fully understand. God is self-existent, self-sufficient, eternal. God alone is holy. To a limited degree we can understand God’s wisdom and truthfulness, his mercy and grace, his justice and wrath, his goodness and faithfulness because can know of these in ourselves or in others to some degree. But with the eternal attributes of God, we simply confess that God is God and we are his creatures. God-jokes are abundant and I think (I hope) that the Lord has a sense of humor. You know the advice we golfers know if there’s thunder and lightning on the golf course. “Hold a one iron. Because nobody can hit a one iron.” But the holiness of God is no laughing matter. This word “holy” is meant to describe the sum effect of all of God’s attributes. The holiness of God is intrinsic. It is as essential to the Lord as light is to the sun, a blue is to the sky, as wet is to water. We don’t make the sun light; it is light. We don’t make the sky blue; it is blue. We don’t make God holy; he is holy. Whatever holiness we have is granted to us by our holy God. David knew that as king he was still a mere human being. Take away his crown, his robe, his ring and one would see a mere man. David had no intrinsic glory, no intrinsic holiness. Only God is holy in and of himself. II. God is Sovereign That God is holy means that the Lord has the authority of sovereign power. Leave it to C.S. Lewis to illustrate for us. “In Hamlet a branch breaks and Ophelia is drowned. Did she die because the branch broke or because Shakespeare wanted her to die at that point in the play? The alternative suggested by the question is not a real alternative at all – once you have grasped that Shakespeare is making the whole play.” The Lord our God has a will. And God is able to put it into effect. Hebrews 7 says this: “Jesus Christ is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” Paul writes in II Timothy 1, “I know whom I have believed and I am sure that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” The metaphor is that of banking (even though our banking system has been quite suspect lately). God’s FDIC is certain. In a less-often-read, brief New Testament letter, Jude writes this: “Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Taken together, these verses declare that God is able to save us for this life and for eternity. They are true because they are the eternal and unchangeable counsel of the God who is sovereign. III. God Knows There are several amazing things that are in every way right with God. God is holy. God is sovereign. One more for today: God knows. The Lord knows all things, past, present and future. And he knows us. Isaiah rhetorically asks, “Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord? Or as his counselor has instructed him? Whom did the Lord consult for his enlightenment? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:13-14). The story is told of an elderly grandfather who was quite wealthy. His hearing had deteriorated and was getting even worse. He finally decided to get a hearing aid. Two weeks later, the company rep stopped by to see how he was doing with his new, hardly noticeable hearing aid. “Your relatives must be happy to know that you can hear so much better.” “Oh, I haven’t told them yet,” the man chuckled. “I’ve been just sitting around listening – and you know what? I’ve changed my will twice!” God is not like a dear old grandfather. He already knows everything about us. He delights in our faith and love; and he forgives all our sinful, wasteful ways. But if God were like that grandfather, how would your conversation around him affect his attitude toward you? The Lord wants us to think and speak his own thoughts and words after him. For the Christian, God’s omniscience is a source of joy. Why? Because the Lord knows the worst about us and yet has loved us and saved us. We need not worry for anything within us to rise up and surprise God. Secondly, the Lord also knows the best about us – even what may not be known to any other person. And thirdly, the Lord knows what he is going to make of us. God’s purpose is redemption. Conclusion With King David and all God’s people, we acknowledge God this way. “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” And “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” Let us pray together. |
