Your COMPASS for the Journey…on the PATH of Disipleship: February 13-19, 2011
Posted by Isaac Butterworth | Filed under Discipleship, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation
Your COMPASS for the Journey on the PATH of Discipleship is a daily resource designed to help you find direction in your walk with Christ. It includes a ‘Compass’ (a daily reading), a ‘Map’ (a brief comment to aid your understanding of the reading), and an application section called ‘Journey.’
Saturday, February 19, 2011 THE GLORY DUE HIS NAME
Compass:
Psalm 96:1-9 ‘Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name….’
1 Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
Map:
This Psalm, along with Psalms 97 and 98, are called ‘enthronement Psalms’ because they are songs of praise to Israel’s God who is enthroned as king over all creation. Unlike ‘the gods of the nations [which] are idols,’ the Lord ‘made the heavens.’ He is ‘worthy of praise,’ and ‘glory [is] due his name.’
Journey: As Sunday approaches, are you feeling an urge to do more than merely warm a pew and endure the hour? Do you find yourself eager to exalt the God ‘who alone is immortal and lives in unapproachable light’ (1 Timothy 6:16)? Do you anticipate humbling yourself before him and waiting in awe in his presence? Are you ready to ‘ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name’? If you were going to meet a great statesman or some other person of notoriety, wouldn’t you prepare yourself? Tomorrow you will gather with others in the presence of El Shaddai, the All Sufficient God (Genesis 17:1). How will you present yourself before him?
Tomorrow: STRICKEN BY OUR SIN
Friday, February 18, 2011 REVERENT WORSHIP
Compass:
Psalm 5:7-8 ‘…In reverence will I bow down….’
7 But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward your holy temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make straight your way before me.
Map:
This Psalm is a lament voiced by David during his morning prayers. He recounts how his enemies seek to destroy him with their deceptive words. How does he find relief from his anguish? By going ‘into [God’s] house’ and, ‘in reverence,’ bowing down to the Lord.
Journey:
It is Friday, and the Lord’s Day is on the horizon. Plan to worship with God’s people this Sunday, and, as you do, apply all you have learned about God’s majesty and the fear of the Lord. Ask God to help you regard him with awe and reverence.
Tomorrow: THE GLORY DUE HIS NAME
Thursday, February 17, 2011 MISPLACED FEAR
Compass:
Isaiah 8:11-15 ‘…He is the one you are to fear….’
11 The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said:
12 “Do not call conspiracy
everything that these people call conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread,
14 and he will be a sanctuary;
but for both houses of Israel he will be
a stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
a trap and a snare.
15 Many of them will stumble;
they will fall and be broken,
they will be snared and captured.”
Map:
Isaiah reports that the Lord gave him a stern warning not to fear what most people fear. Most people have to be in control of the situation, else they are filled with anxiety. This is misplaced fear.
Journey:
What we are to fear is that we would place our sense of security in anything other than God. ‘He is the one you are to fear,’ says the Lord, ‘he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary.’ Do an inventory of your heart to discover what it is you place your confidence in.
Tomorrow: REVERENT WORSHIP
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 FEAR THE LORD!
Compass :
Psalm 33:6-11 ‘Let all the earth fear the LORD….’
6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Map :
John Eich has said, ‘Love and respect go hand in hand. The fear of the Lord is not cringing fear, which is respect without love. And it is not irreverent flippancy, which is love without respect. Respect plus love equals the fear of the Lord.’
Journey :
There is something patently unbiblical about being too ‘chummy’ with God. We need to cultivate the fear of the Lord, which means not so much being afraid of God as being afraid to disappoint him.
Tomorrow: MISPLACED FEAR
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 SILENCE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD
Compass:
Habakkuk 2:18-20 ‘…Let all the earth be silent before him.’
18 “Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For he who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;
there is no breath in it.
20 But the LORD is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.”
Map:
Habakkuk wrote this book just before the Babylonian forces overran Jerusalem. He was upset that God would use an evil and idolatrous nation (Babylonia) to judge his people. God announced that Babylonia would be punished for its arrogance, but he also declared that, just as Babylonia’s idols are unable to speak, so all the earth (including God’s people) should be silent before the true God.
Journey:
Hushed reverence in the presence of God is what is called for. Place yourself before the Lord today, and do not speak overmuch. Dwell before him in awe and quietness, acknowledging by your silence his splendor. If this is difficult, ask God to help you to develop a capacity for wonder and adoration.
Tomorrow: FEAR THE LORD!
Monday, February 14, 2011 CEASE YOUR STRIVING
Compass:
Psalm 46:8-11 ‘Desist, and know that I [am] God’ (Young’s Literal Translation).
8 Come ye, see the works of Jehovah, Who hath done astonishing things in the earth, 9 Causing wars to cease, Unto the end of the earth, the bow he shivereth, And the spear He hath cut asunder, Chariots he doth burn with fire. 10 Desist, and know that I [am] God, I am exalted among nations, I am exalted in the earth. 11 Jehovah of hosts [is] with us, A tower for us [is] the God of Jacob!
Map:
The almost universal rendering of verse 10 is ‘Be still,’ what what it means is ‘Cease and desist!’ It is God shouting into the turbulence of human rage to bring calm where, before, there was tumult. Jesus did the same thing when he calmed the storm at sea (Mark 4:39).
Journey:
How may we silence the anxiety in our hearts before the One who says, ‘I will be exalted…’? We may do so by reminding ourselves that ‘Jehovah of hosts [is] with us, a tower for us [is] the God of Jacob!’ (v. 11, Young’s Literal Translation).
Tomorrow: SILENCE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD
Sunday, February 13, 2011 OUR EXALTED LORD
Compass:
Isaiah 6:1-4 ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty….’
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
Map:
These verses begin the account of the prophet Isaiah’s call to proclaim God’s Word to the people of ancient Judah. Isaiah was a priest, ministering in the temple, when he had this vision of the Lord.
Journey:
How do you picture God in your mind? Isaiah gives us a startling image of the Lord, ‘high and exalted.’ The prophet approaches the limits of human language to portray the terrible majesty and holiness of the Almighty. Ask God over the next few days to give you a deeper appreciation of his transcendence and the mystery that surrounds him.
Tomorrow: CEASE YOUR STRIVING
Photo Credit: IMG066 by Aidan Jones
