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One of the most profound sentences in all literature is a single sentence in Psalm 33. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."
It pre-supposes that all people, all nations do worship. There is no choice in this. It's in our 'mother's milk'. We are born to worship. The question is, not DO you worship? but whom do you worship?
For over a thousand years the people of Israel were torn by this very question: Not is there a god?, but who is God? They concluded that there was only one God. They knew His Name - he had revealed himself to them. He created all things, including all people. He is personal. He sees, he cares, he knows, he reveals himself. He is the Lord of history, and of all nations on this little planet. He had spoken especially to Israel. Our danger is ever in putting other things where only God should be. To do that is idolatry, and the work of all prophets of the Lord is now, and always was, to smash the cultural idols of their contemporaries. Yet we human beings continue to worship Mars - the god of war. We sing of Britannia ruling the waves (instead of merely waiving the rules). We adore Mammon (that is money), and Zeus (power). Aphrodite - sex. So we worship the work of our own hands, our systems, our politics, our traditions.
Do you wonder that in writing to a most sophisticated, intelligent community a letter, which we call the First Letter of John, his last words should be: 'Keep yourselves free from idols' ? Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth - he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.
We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you." Psalm 33: 12-16, 20-21
A Prayer: Almighty God, since you have made us to worship and since we grow in the image of what we truly adore, enable us to worship you, the Triune God, and grow more like you day by day
Now read Isaiah Chapter 44
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