THE EXCELLENCIES OF HIS BEING

THE EXCELLENCIES OF HIS BEING

"And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before
God, fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying: "We give thanks to
you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have
taken your great power and have begun to reign." Revelation 11:16-17

Some thoughts as we prepare for the Lord's Day tomorrow ...

"Worship flows from love. Where love is meager, worship will be scant.
Where love is deep, worship will overflow. As Paul wrote his letters,
his contemplation of love and glory of God would spontaneously cause his
heart to overflow in worship and doxology.

But there can be an element of selfishness even in love. True, we
worship God for the great things He has down for us, but our worship
reaches a much higher level when we worship simply and solely for what
He is, for the excellencies and perfections of His being.

Thomas Goodwin, the Puritan, said, 'I have known men who came to God for
nothing else but just to come to Him, they so loved Him. They scorned to
soil Him and themselves with any other errand than just purely to be
alone with Him in His presence.' We might say with some justification
that that is a little extreme, but it suggests an intimacy with God and
desire for fellowship with Him that we might well covet.

Worship is the loving ascription of praise to God, for what He is in
Himself and in His providential dealings. It is the bowing of our
innermost spirit before Him in deepest humility and reverence.

David implored his soul: 'My soul, wait in silence for God only' (Psalm
62:5). The deepest feelings often cannot find adequate expression in
words. Between intimate friends there can be comfortable silences. There
are times when words are unnecessary, or even an intrusion. So it is in
our communication with God. Sometimes we are awed into silence in the
presence of the Eternal." From the pen of J. Oswald Sanders - HOW GREAT
THOU ART-published by Multnomah.

Good words to ponder as we prepare our hearts for worship.

Great quote: The voice of the Father will be heard as He sets before us
a widely opened door and receives us into blessed fellowship with
Himself. When we pray for the Spirit's help, it will no longer be in the
fear that prayer is too great an effort for us. Instead, we will simply
fall down at the Lord's feet in our weakness. There we will find the
victory and power that comes from His love. -- Andrew Murray