For it is by grace you have been saved...

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

My God is So Big...So I Worship

Remember the children’s song?

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty,
There’s nothing my God cannot do.
The rivers are His, the mountains are His
The stars are His handiwork too
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do.

That’s the way I remember it anyway. Sorry if I messed up the official lyrics. Anyway, it’s amazing what we can teach in a children’s song that somehow we can then grow up and forget.

I’ve spent a lot of time lately enjoying Shai Linne’s project on the Attributes of God. I know not everyone is a fan of rap, Christian or otherwise, but the content of the lyrics on this project is amazing. Two of my favorites are based on the opening verses of Psalm 115: Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! … Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. (Psalm 115:1,3, ESV)

Two things stand out in those songs and in those verses. One, we need to remember that it’s all about God and His glory; a theme we often repeat around our church. And two, my God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do. Or as the Psalm says, “He does all that He pleases.”

As children, we seem fine with all that. God really is big and all. But as we grow, we seem to struggle with the “He does all that He pleases” bit. In short, we sometimes buck against the whole Sovereignty of God idea. We like it when it fits our agenda: God is sovereign over the nations, over history, etc. We’re not so keen on it when it comes to the “sovereign over my life” issue.

I’m not going to sink into all the arguments regarding that particular doctrine. As far as I’m concerned, you can accept what Scripture says about our Sovereign King or you can reject it, and only His Spirit will convince you.

What I want to do is simply remind you of the awe of it all. That childlike awe you might have felt when singing “My God is So Big.” That’s really the issue here. Once we grasp that God is God, that He is Sovereign, it’s not a matter of arguing the minutia of what He’s sovereign over (because He does all that He pleases), but a matter of worshiping such a magnificent God. It really is all about Him and His glory.

Children often see the works of God, they hear about His power and majesty, and they just wonder at it all. Unfortunately, adults sometimes get jaded and calloused, and we loose that. Wouldn’t it be great to reclaim that awe? We ought to sit back and simply be amazed at the handiworks of God.

We ought to be in awe of the marvelous gift of salvation we’ve been given. To celebrate this holiday we’ve just celebrated, to know that God sent His own Son, God in the flesh, born as a babe in a manger. To know that this Son lived a perfect life and died as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. To know that He gave His life as a ransom for filthy sinners like you and me; that He exchanged His righteousness for our rebellion; His glory for our garbage; His riches for our rags. That ought to cause us to sit back and just oohh and aahh over the majesty of our maker; and to throw ourselves on His mercy.

But even beyond that is the simple wonder we ought to experience as we consider God Himself. My God is so big, He is so glorious, so beautiful, so magnificent, so splendid in His very being, that our minds can’t even comprehend Him. There’s nothing my God cannot do, He does all that He pleases, and so I will simply worship Him and give Him the glory due His name.

For those who enjoy great lyrics regardless of the musical vehicle, here are the two songs from Shai Linne I mentioned. Just sit back and let the words remind you of the greatness of our God, and worship Him. (Those who are strongly adverse to Christian hip-hop, you can just click here and read the lyrics if you'd like: The Glory of God, Our God is in the Heavens). Soli Deo Gloria!




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