Psalm 100
Verse 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
What makes a person worthy of praise? Is it who they are or what they do? Or maybe a combination of both. Worship is defined as an expression or feeling of adoration and reverence towards a deity (god). So by definition praise is given for something someone did and worship is more about who a person is. God qualifies for both.
He is the creator of universe and that alone sets Him in a place to be praised. But greater than even that He is God – not just a god but THE God! Jehovah! He has done marvelous things over the years. Things like causing plagues that freed His people from slavery, rolling back the sea for those slaves to walk through on dry ground and then plunging the sea back together to take out the enemy army. He also fed all those former slaves for forty years in the wilderness, even though those very people complained, disobeyed – even to the point of making a golden calf to worship. He continued doing great things for these people He claimed as His own as they moved into the Promised Land and decided He wasn’t King enough for them and wanted one they could see.
His doing all this gave reason for His being worthy of praise but it is who He is in all of this that shows He is God and worthy of all our worship and praise. Which of us would have still done all of this for people who continued to show they didn’t care about Him? He was due their complete worship, to be their first and only choice as God, but they, like us, failed too often to look to who He was and only focused on what He was and wasn’t doing for them. They were willing to praise when He was providing a way for them but worship was a struggle. And often for us, it still is.
Making It Personal
What do you praise God for? When you look to God, do you find Him to be enough for your whole worship? What may stand in your way of pure worship and praise?
Making It Personal Kids
What makes God, the true God? What character traits of God do you think of when you think about Him? What is a way you can worship God because of who He is?
Closing Prayer
Father God, may we look to You not just for things we want but for who You are. Help us to see You, really see You. Thank You, Father. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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