A Recognition Of God's Actions And Purposes

by JOHN BAIRD, Edinburgh | Category: Worship | Feb 1964

Man's chief object in life should be to serve and worship God and to give Him the glory due unto His holy name. Worship and honour are His for His high transcending merit and for His wonderful works on behalf of the children of men, the language of whose hearts should ever be,

"Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall laud Thy works to another, And shall declare Thy mighty acts" (Psalm 145.8, 4).

The Lord's works are in keeping with His character

Moses, who had an outstanding knowledge of the ways of God, bowed his head and worshipped at the exceeding majesty of the LORD and at the proclamation,

"The LORD, the LORD a God full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth ; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin and that will by no means clear the guilty" (Exodus 34.6, 7)

- a proclamation which shows the works of the LORD to be in keeping with His glory and majesty and holiness. His character calls for worship, so do His works. God's worthiness is seen in all His doings.

The Lord's work in Creation

God's work in creation gives cause that men should worship Him. David said,

"The heavens declare the glory of God

And the firmament sheweth His handywork" (Psalm 19.1),

and

"0 Loan, our Lord, How excellent is Thy Name in all the earth!

Who hast set Thy glory upon the heavens" (Psalm 8.1).

David loved the LORD and rejoiced in His works. His meditations upon God's work in creation brought him low in worship, and he was caused to ask, "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?" (Psalm 8.4). What, indeed, is man? Even in the known vastness of the created universe (and it is much more so than men can know) how puny and insignificant man is! But what of man, a sinner, in the presence of the infinite, eternal and holy God who created and made all things, the God who made man and against whom man sinned? Men ought to worship God because He created man: even if there were no other cause for human hearts to melt and flow in worship, men ought to worship God because He is their Creator. This should have been borne in upon the hearts of the children of Israel through the keeping of the sabbath, a rest day that looked back to the six days of God's work in creation and the seventh day, on which God rested from His creative work. The sabbath rest provided opportunity for meditation and contemplation of the greatness and goodness of man's Maker.

But so effective has been the work of the evil one that men forget God their Maker. In Israel the sabbath became so hedged around with traditions of men that they failed to honour the LORD in their sabbath-keeping. This led to conflict between the Jews of His day and the Lord Jesus. Among the Gentiles the truth of God was exchanged for a lie, and they "Worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever" (Romans 1.25): this sin was found also in Israel. Men's hearts turned from the Creator to the creature, and their worship followed the same course, so that men openly forsook the Creator and fell to idolatry, with the consequence that "God gave them up" (Romans 1.26).

And what of our own day? Men have now probed deeper than ever into the mysteries of the created universe. They have now accomplished much that fifty years ago was openly pronounced impossible. Has this brought men nearer to God? Has it led to greater reverence for God and deeper expression of worship? We fear not; for it appears as though men have ceased to marvel at the manifold wisdom of God our Maker, and, ceasing to marvel, they cease to give glory to God. The spirit of the men of Babel is with them (even though some of their leaders may be humble, and possibly devout, men); they speak and act as though now "nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do" (Genesis 11.6): they seek to make them a name (Genesis 11.4). We should not be deceived, for Scripture says, "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!" (Isaiah 45.9). Happy we should be to say that God is our Maker, "who giveth songs in the night" (Job 35.10), and we should exhort one another, saying,

"0 come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker:

For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand" (Psalm 95.6,7).

It becomes us thus to remember and to worship our Creator, for in a glorious day to come the four and twenty elders will worship, saying,

"Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, ... for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they were, and were created" (Revelation

4.10, 11).

The Lord as Helper

The Maker of the universe is its Sustainer: man's Maker is man's Sustainer. To the philosophers of Athens Paul said, "He Himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; ... in Him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17.25, 28). God sustains men, spirit, soul and body, yet few give Him thanks for this His daily work on their behalf, for men today are showing unthankfulness in these the grievous times of the last days (2 Timothy 3.1, 2). Paul found in Athens an altar with the inscription, "To an unknown god". Led of the Spirit, Paul said,

"What therefore ye 'worship in ignorance, this set I forth unto you. The God that made the 'world and all things therein ... neither is He served by men's hands, as though He needed anything" (Acts 17.28, 25).

Much of Paul's appeal to the men of Athens is based upon man's obligation to honour and worship his Maker, on whom he is dependent for all things.

God's interest in the daily lives of men upon the earth is seen over and over again in the Scriptures. We cite the case of Eliezer, the servant of Abraham. Not knowing how he might accomplish the errand on which Abraham had sent him, he prayed to the LORD and named the sign by which he desired the LORD to signify the bride of the LORD'S choice for Isaac. His prayer was so answered that there could be no doubt whatever as to the certainty of the guidance of God. His acknowledgement of the help of the LORD was immediate: he "bowed his head and worshipped the LORD" (Genesis 24.26). There can be no doubt as to the truth of the fact that God watches over men and helps them in their difficulties. When children of God commit their anxieties to Him and receive undoubted answer to their prayers, they should, like Eliezer, be immediate in worshipping response. Again, the blind man of John 9, on receiving the revelation that it was the Son of God who had healed him, was instant in his worship. God still works for His saints in their every circumstance; they on their part should be ever ready to acknowledge Him and to worship Him for all His goodness day by day in saving them out of all dangers, moral and spiritual and physical.

The Day of Adversity

God delights to bless His people, and when we are recipients of divine help in happy circumstances it may be a relatively easy matter to make, as much as in us lies, a becoming response. But, what if the Lord should will to lead us through stress and trial? Are we able still to worship Him? Consider that patient man Job. In the face of crushing calamities and disasters, Job

"fell down upon the ground, and worshipped; and he said, ... blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1.20, 21),

and later he said,

"Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2.10).

Job's faith, like his patience, was great indeed. Can we emulate him, and be on our guard lest trials and difficulties cause us to restrain worship? Whatever God may be pleased to bring upon us will certainly be for our good, and we should discern His work in our case and wonder, and worship.

Gods' Redemptive Work

Among God's works on behalf of men there is His work of salvation. Each child of God can look back to the fact that God was pleased to bring him to the knowledge of Christ as Saviour. He can also through faith with the help of the Holy Spirit look back to the dread day when the Lord Jesus suffered and died for him on the cross.

In various ways the LORD sought to keep the day of their deliverance and redemption from Egypt ever prominently before the children of Israel, and He specifically warned them, saying through Moses,

"Beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the Loan thy God; and Him shalt thou serve" (Deuteronomy 6.12, 13).

The redeemed of this dispensation, like Israel, should ever bear in mind that it was the LORD who redeemed them, and that at infinite cost: what love they owe to their Redeemer! To called-out Israel the LORD gave the word (and the Lord Jesus obeyed it), "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4.10). God's covenant-people of this dispensation have been saved from bondage worse by far than that of Israel in Egypt, and redeemed not with corruptible things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1.18, 19). Saved at so great cost from eternal judgement, we should need no other compelling motive to move us to sincere worship of God our Saviour. Our redeemed hearts should ever be in harmony with the new song of the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders:

"Worthy art Thou ...for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with Thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Revelation 5.9).

Neither God's work in creation nor his work in redemption will ever be lost sight of in eternity: they will be subjects in the theme of eternal praise.

God's revealed Purposes

Men can have knowledge of the hidden things of God only in so far as He is graciously pleased to reveal them. To man, as to the future events in his life on earth, these are veiled and may be a matter of perplexity and anxiety. But enlightened ones will ever learn that God's purposes are for man's good and are the out-workings of His infinite love to man, the creature of His hand. For such comfort men should bow in worship. It has been to favoured ones that God's will has been revealed in visions and dreams. For us, the word of God contains all we need. It is through the word of God that we get some revelation of the worship of hosts in heaven -

"Worthy art Thou. . . for Thou wast slain ... Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain" -

and of the universal worship of every created thing and the elders (Revelation 5.9-14).

As we consider these exceedingly wonderful things that must come to pass and the joy of the worship in the day of God, we are reminded of Psalm 45, a psalm of the sons of Korah concerning the things touching the King. The psalm, in language of supreme beauty, speaks of His great glory and majesty, glories that should follow His suffering and glories yet to be seen and wondered at. Amid all this, the queen is seen in gold of Ophir at the King's right hand. She is the object of His love and she is to share His glory. Set in such superb beauty there is a call to her as a daughter to forget her own people and her father's house. To her, as thus called out, there is given the promise and the command:

"So shall the King desire thy beauty

For He is thy Lord ; worship thou Him."

Favoured men, those sons of Korah! to be the channel whereby God gave this happy foreshadowing of the glorious things yet to be.

All God's works show His greatness and His love. As we think upon His work in creation, in redemption, in calling out a people for Himself upon the earth, in caring for that people, and His purpose that His redeemed shall be with Him in the eternal glory, we are compelled to respond to the word:

"Worship God" (Revelation 22.9).

"Great and marvellous are Thy works, 0 Lord God, the Almighty ; righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the ages. Who shall not fear, 0 Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before Thee ; far Thy righteous acts have been made manifest" (Revelation 15.3, 4).

JOHN BAIRD, Edinburgh | Feb 1964
Worship