« Psalm 89 – How Long? | Home | Psalm 104 – Wrapped in Light »
Psalm 96 – Worship the Lord
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, December 24, 2007
Excerpt
Worship the LORD in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth.
Psalm 96:8
Click here to read all of Psalm 96
Prayer
Where is Your holy splendor, Lord Jesus? There You lie, wrapped up in cloth, just like every other newborn. Yet Your bed is a feed trough, about as far from splendor as its gets. Or so it seems.
Yet in Your humility You reveal even more of the astounding glory of God, a God who hasn’t remained far above and beyond human suffering, but who has entered into our reality, experiencing our weakness, our frailty, our temptation, and everything else we face, except what it’s like to sin. Your splendor, Lord Jesus, is indeed a holy splendor, a splendor set-apart. It’s not the glory we human expect, but the glory of God Incarnate.
Seeing You in the manger, what can we do but worship You?
But would the earth tremble before You, a helpless baby, a baby who even lacks a suitable bed? Hardly. The earth would ignore You, or perhaps scorn Your low estate.
The earth has yet to realize who You are and what You have come to do. The One who holds all power in heaven and on earth has become powerless for our sake. The One who created the earth itself has come to restore His creation. The earth should tremble in reverent fear, beholding the mystery of the Incarnation, the beginning of the new creation, the presence of God in its midst.
Help us, Lord Jesus, as we worship You, to glimpse Your unexpected glory, to feel Your power clothed in weakness. Help us to tremble before You this day, in holy fear, in passionate adoration, and in joyful praise. All praise be to You, Jesus, Son of God, Word of God made flesh!
Amen!
Postscript
May you have blessed, peaceful, and glorious Christmas Eve!
Topics: Psalm 096-100 |
December 24th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
If I were to describe an intervention by God today, I would envision (at a minimum) a good old, fashioned smiting: The Taliban, Al Queda, et al. swept away instantly in firey vengence, God revealed in all his terrible power, those who mock, silenced in an instant.
If God were to show up as a baby born to Guatamalan immigrants in the back seat of a car somewhere in East LA, I’d be saying “what the heck is God thinking? A little baby? Doesn’t God know what kind of trouble we’re in here? How the heck is this little immigrant kid going to help us?”
God is no showman, thriving on the adulation from yet another brilliant performance. After a healing miracle, he says, “tell no one.” Who is this quiet God who softly calls to us over the din of the “look at me” world?
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:13 am
We dont have anything to do to His shameless birth but to Worship Him for he has done everything for us and his love enndures forever
March 29th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Humility. Softness. Gentleness. Our God. We must find time to be still to feel Him move in our lives. We must be still to listen to Him call us to do His will. How hard it is to do in a world that is always in a bustling hurry. The challenge is to find our own peaceful spot, where we can say, “Speak Lord. Your servant is listening.” Then, we must listen with our hearts. Amen. The Master does speak to us through the noise of our minds. His familiar voice whispers to us, and we respond.