Majesty of His Word

Last night, after I left the gym, I caught the last few minutes of a great sermon on Isaiah 66. This morning, as I awakened to pains in my body that probably shouldn't be there...I was brought to worship with one single verse. Take a minute with me and allow these words to soak into your heart.

"All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look; he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." - Isaiah 66:2, ESV.

WOW. This is the only expression I have right now to offer to you! What a powerful display of God's concern and esteem over His children. Let's take just a moment today and break down some of these truths.

1. Humility. This is a tough word to speak. In Isaiah 66:2, as well as other passages of Scripture, we can see a clear blueprint that the Lord esteems humble followers. Our culture offers us self-centered pills to swallow. For example, we want the best education with the best salary for the best house in order to have the best circle of influence. We want our students to be the ones noticed in all the musicals and plays. We want our decisions to be considered in the church as well as the H.O.A. meetings. Friend, I've swallowed this pill with you! In fact, I see this pill around me almost daily! Why is it that humility is something we don't focus much on in the life of the church? Why is it that we can't examine passages such as James 1:27 (a passage I preached at a funeral service this past Sunday) or Philippians 2:5-11 (a passage the focuses on the humility of our Savior)? Why is it that we spend over $800 on Christmas day (not including all the presents and travel arrangements, according to Francis Chan), and yet over 1 billion of our population lives on under $2 a day? Friend, we all must repent of any self centeredness and focus on humble submission to the infinite treasure we have found in our Savior (Matthew 13:44).

2. Contrite in Spirit. What on earth does this mean? The idea behind the original Hebrew is a Spirit or heart that has been smitten. What causes us to be smitten? What captivates and captures our Spirit? What draws us to surrender daily? Do we give our hearts over to idolatry? College Bowl games, latest concerts, new books, athlete scandals, etc. What attacks our attention? Our Lord desires and esteems believers that are contrite in Spirit...in His Spirit. May we find our hearts contrite; in complete awe of His majesty and splendor!

3. Trembles at His Word. WOW. Does His Word really cause us to tremble? Do we take the same fear and amazement in our lives like the disciples had when they witnessed Jesus calm the storm simply by His Word? (Mark 4:35-41). Do we find joy in His Word like the writer of Psalm 119? Do we wait with great anticipation to read His Word and hear His voice daily? What causes us to tremble? I sometimes get nervous when I'm around "celebrities." I start to tremble when I have the quick second to speak to them. It's ridiculous. Why can't I tremble even MORE when I open up and read His Word? God esteems those that have a reverent fear and love for His Word. You can simply read Psalm 119:9-11 to get a glimpse of that. His Word draws the lost to salvation and saints to refreshment. His Word sets the captives free. His Word brings families together and binds marriages under His covenantal love. His Word heals broken churches and broken down ministers. May His Word cause us all to tremble...to sweet worship.

May we find majesty in His Word together; beginning today. Thank for you taking just a few minutes and reading with me. I pray you will find the majesty of His Word today!

Soli Deo Gloria!