Worthy Is The Lamb

“God… is infinitely the greatest and best of beings. All things else, with regard to worthiness, importance, and excellence, are perfectly as nothing in comparison to him… The ultimate [goal] of God’s works is… the glory of God.”

– Jonathan Edwards

Psalm 145

Great Is the Lord

A Song of Praise. Of David.

145:1 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.]
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

You are what you worship. You become like that which you worship. What do you place your confidence in? Where does your hope lie? What do you consider worthy? What carries weight, significance, authority in your life? Is it money? Is it other people's approval? Is it food, sex, grades, worldly success and fame, significance, a lover's affection, comfort, health or financial security? What do you consider worthy? What, if gained, would "make you happy" or "make life meaningful?" What, if lost, would make life meaningless, and "not worth living?"

God's glory is weighty. He is the only one worthy of worship. His glory is infinitely weighty, infinitely significant, infinitely worthy. His beauty, majesty, splendor, worth are matchless throughout all of creation. He is the Creator God, The Only Living God, The True God, The King of Kings, The Lord of Lords. He sits exalted, enthroned, enveloped with weighty praise above heaven and earth.

“The Biblical word ‘glory’ is (Heb) kavod [which] means heavy, weighty, significant… The ‘glory of the Lord’ indicates the brilliance that is connected with all God’s virtues and his self-revelation in nature and grace… As an object of loving adoration it is called his [beauty]. As an object of our reverent submission it is called his majesty. As an object of our joyous gratitude it is called his [worthiness].”
– Herman Bavinck

When I first began to draw near to belief in God and even for some time after, I found a stumbling block in the demand that we should “praise” God; still more in the suggestion that God Himself demanded it. We all despise the man who demands continued assurance of his own virtue… but the most obvious fact about praise — whether of God or anything, strangely escaped me. I never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise. The world rings with praise — lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game… Except where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to be inner health made audible… Men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?” Indeed we can’t help doing it...because praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation… Our expressions of praise are inadequate — but how if one could really and fully praise things to perfection — then indeed our delight would attain perfect development! To understand what [heaven] means we must imagine ourselves in perfect love with God — drunk with, drowned in, dissolved by, that delight which, far from remaining pent up within ourselves… flows out from us incessantly again in effortless and perfect expression — our joy no more separable from the praise in which it liberates and utters itself than the brightness a mirror receives is separable from the brightness it sheds. The Scots catechism says a man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But then we will know these are the same thing. To fully enjoy is to glorify — in commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy him.
– C.S. Lewis

When I Sit in Darkness I Shall Rise

My eyes can only distinguish dull grey tones.
A fog lingers all around me.
I cannot see which way I am going.
Where am I?
Is this a dream?
Is this hell?
No taste, No sight, No smell.
Paralyzed, numb, yet frightened,
I look down
at my feet,
but I cannot see them.
Who am I?
The only decision I can make,
is no decision at all.
I cannot breathe;
only weep.
A light,
in the distance,
breaks through small holes in the thick cloud.
Beams of hope,
Burn into my skin.
My face grows warm.
My eyes focus on the light.
I was blind, but now I see.
The fog dissipates.
I can see my feet.
But where do I go?
Follow the light.
There's life in the light.

Thinking, thinking, thinking...

Jesus, I long for thee,
And sigh for Canaan's shore,
Thy lovely face to see,
And all my warfare o'er;
Here billows break upon my breast
And brooding sorrows steal my rest.

I pant, I groan, I grieve
For my untoward heart;
How full of doubts I live,
Though full of grace thou art!
What poor returns, I make to thee
For all the mercy shown to me!

And must I ever smart,
A child of sorrows here?
Yet, Lord be near my heart,
To soothe each rising tear;
Then at thy bleeding cross I'll stay,
And sweetly weep my life away.



-John Berridge




Sometimes God's grace looks like me flat on my face.
It isn't plastic smiles. It isn't comfortable, cookie-cutter, American bullshit.
It's messy. It hurts. It's perpetual.
Being transformed, remade into God' image isn't like putting fancy ornaments on a Christmas tree. It's killing the tree by chopping it down, digging up the dead roots, and burning the whole tree by fire.
The Gospel is good news.
Jesus wins.
God plants new trees with imperishable seeds.
He is making me fit for heaven, my true home.
I am so polluted. I desperately need God's grace,
even though I run from Him. Like a shepherd who chases down his wandering, stupid sheep. When the shepherd finds him he, oftentimes, breaks the sheep's leg to prevent him from running any further. In the same way, God graciously wrestles me to the ground and breaks into my life. He uproots and shatters all of my false presumptions about Him, myself, and the world. "By Gods blessing my old foundation was broken up, and I saw that my righteousness would not save me."

The Lord is my Shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.