God In a Box – Part 2
There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.
All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
-Psalm 86:8-13
For several months this Psalm has been on my heart and mind. I have wanted to write about this section of the Psalm from the very beginning, but decided to go in the order that David wrote it so as to get a better picture of what he was saying to us. (If you missed Part 1, you may read it by clicking here.) I am glad that I did go in order, because as God would have it, the second part of this Psalm is very appropriate for us to consider during the Christmas season.
I wasn’t planning to write today, but as I was working this afternoon, I was listening to a sermon on anticipating Christmas and I knew I had to make time to share what the Lord was saying to me. It goes along so well with what I believe He has been trying to teach me from Psalm 86.
So many times we put God in a box, wrap Him up all nice and pretty, put a big bow around Him and set Him aside. Once in a while we take Him out and play with Him for a little bit, but then we put Him back and secure the lid again. We fail to see Him for the treasure that He truly is. We fail to allow ourselves to revel in the wonder of His being, the majesty of His power and the awesomeness of His presence. And I am afraid that we do this more at Christmastime than at any other time of the year. We are so busy with parties and presents and baking and decorating that we forget what—Who we are celebrating. Pause in the midst of your busy-ness and consider with me the greatness of our God.
“There is none like You…nor are there any works like Yours.” When was the last time you spoke to God in awestruck reverence like David did here? Consider what sacrifice it was for the One who is greater than all the sum mysteries of the Universe to reduce Himself to be an embryo in the womb of a human, teen age girl. Really stop and think about that for a minute. Consider the most grand and inspiring site that you have ever seen on this earth, or the most breathtaking image of space that you have admired and consider that our God, our Jesus created that. He created everything, including the body of the young woman that was his home for the first nine months of His time in human form.
One day all nations will bow their knees and lift up their voices in praise to our great God, but I ask you…why wait until then? We get so bogged down in the daily that many of us would have to pull ourselves up out of a pit in order to kneel in praise. The muck and mire of our to-do lists, our emotions, our lack of confession…it covers us in guilt and shame and frustration and takes our eyes off of the One who is greater than all other gods, the One whom we were created to worship and glorify, the One we are to praise for His greatness and for His great works. I know I am guilty of this. I have been in a pit of discouragement and frustration over the long list of things I have to do, my inability to do them well, the people in my life that add to the difficulty and the overwhelming feeling I have when I think that there is no end to it all…at least that I can see right now. I think David understood that, but He reminds us to forget about ourselves, get God out of the little box we’ve put Him in and return Him to His rightful place on the throne of Heaven. When we stop to consider Him, the muck of our lives falls away and we are reminded that this dusty road we travel is only for a short while. Very soon we will be face down at the feet of Jesus and none of what we have done on this earth will matter short of that which brought Him glory.
Which brings me to the prayer that has been on my heart these past few months…
Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.
Unite my heart to fear your name. Pull me away from all that tears me up inside. Bind up the wounds that this world has inflicted on my soul. Cleanse me from the filth of my sin. Open my eyes so that I can see that those things that distract me from spending time with you are fleeting and empty. Unite my heart, Lord. Make me whole through the power of your grace and forgiveness. Remove from my life all many things that clamor for my time and attention. Infuse my soul and spirit with your love and draw me close to your side again…so close that I can hear my heart beat in rhythm with your own…for only then can I truly praise you Lord. Only after you have picked up the fragments of my life and glued them together again can I bring you glory and praise your name as you desire. Remind me of your great love for me. Remind me why you came to this earth. Remind me of the true meaning of Christmas. Remind me that you died to save me from the pit that I so often choose to walk back into while navigating this road of my life. Help me to walk in your truth so that you are everything to me. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name.
