Becoming What You Worship - Part 1

Read: Psalm 111

For the next few weeks let’s look at Psalm 111, the Scripture reference in last week’s post. The background to this Psalm gives us insight into its writing. Commentaries describe it as an “acrostic” poem; written originally in Hebrew, each line starts with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. As we read it in English, we miss this poetic nature. The theme of Psalm 111 is the goodness of God, and we can see this goodness in His great wonders and works!

Great are the works of the LORD; they are studied by all who delight in them.

Sometimes we are afraid of what we don’t understand, of things we can’t explain, but the wonders of God exceed all of this. Our words seem inadequate to describe these creations of God, these mysteries of the universe. The psalm goes on to use words like “splendid” and “majestic” as offerings to characterize the indescribable, the stars and planets, the heavens and the earth, space and gravity, the human body and an individual cell. All of these have been studied, with new and amazing observations still being discovered. Standing at the ocean shore at sunset, we find ourselves wordless as the beauty of the setting and the wonder of the tides whisper glory to our souls. God holds us with grace and love. The mysteries of God delight our curiosities, stir our hearts to seek more of Him.

According to the Moody Bible Commentary, this psalm, both a wisdom psalm and a praise psalm, we have our “essential motivation for all worship”. Worship is an expression of love or reverence for something, and in Christianity, the focus of our worship is God! His majesty and enduring righteousness, the provisions for and redemption of His people, the purity of truth and justice in His actions, and His immense blessings are reasons to worship God.

His miracles are His memorial — This GOD of Grace, this GOD of Love. (Vs 4, MSG)

God’s wonders cause my soul to bow in worship. God’s miracles bring shouts and applause! What an amazing, holy God! And that He chooses me to be part of His Kingdom… mystery for sure! The beautiful hymn, Worthy of Worship, comes to mind, each verse so perfectly written. The chorus uses some of the names we call God - Father, Creator, Savior, Sustainer. Truly, God, You are worthy and wonderful, worthy of worship and praise! - dho

* “Worthy of Worship” is written by Mark Blankenship, Terry W. York, 1988