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Psalms 29
1 (Psalm of David.) Give to the Lord, you sons of God, give glory and power, give to the Lord
2 Give to the Lord the glory due to his name To him be the glory of God; worship the LORD with the adornment of holiness.
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He also made them leap like calves, Lebanon and Serion like wild calves.
7 The voice of the Lord divides the flames.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD caused the doe to give birth to her fetus, and the trees fell away and became pure. All who are in his temple proclaim his glory.
10 The LORD sat as king in the flood; the LORD sat as king forever.
11 The Lord will give strength to his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.
Today’s text, the author of Psalm 29 uses command words in the first verse. He commands the sons of God to give glory and power to the Lord. Important things need to be said repeatedly, so give it to the Lord twice in the first verse. In the second verse, it says again: Give the Lord the glory due his name!
It turns out that the practice of saying important things three times has been around for thousands of years. (Hahaha)
Yes, the glory that belongs to God cannot be taken away from us, and we cannot take it for ourselves. Also in another passage today, Luke 3:15 – 22, the glory and position that belonged to Jesus was something that John the Baptist did not dare to pass over or deprive him of.
15 When the people were looking forward to the coming of Christ, people began to suspect that John was the Christ.
16 John said: I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming, and I am not worthy even to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 He has a winnowing fan in his hand to purify his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 18 John also exhorted the people with many other words and preached the gospel to them.
19 But Herod, the tetrarch, was rebuked by John because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that he had done; 20 and one more thing was added to him; Put in jail.
21 And all the people were baptized, and Jesus also was baptized. And while he was praying, heaven was opened,
22 and a spirit in the shape of a dove came upon him; and a voice came from heaven, saying, You are my beloved Son, I am well pleased with you.
Verse 15 tells us that at that time the people were living in dire straits and were desperately looking forward to the coming of the Messiah to save them from the sea of ??suffering. When these people saw what John the Baptist had done, they murmured in their hearts and doubted whether this man who baptized people was the Messiah they had been waiting for. In this era, there are many people who want to take credit and limelight. Some people even do not hesitate to hurt others and take the credit that others deserve as their own. Moreover, the fame and recognition that John the Baptist had earned at that time had already made people look at him with admiration, mistakenly thinking that he was the coming Christ and Messiah. At that time, Jesus had not yet made his debut, and few people knew him. If John the Baptist It was okay for John the Baptist to really admit it. That's understandable.
How could John the Baptist be an ordinary person?
He understands his own identity very well and knows that he is not worthy to untie the shoelaces of anyone who is to come. How could he be Christ? Listen to his answer: 16 John said to him, "I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming, and I am not worthy even to untie his sandals." He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
The response recorded here about John the Baptist echoes Psalm 29. What John the Baptist did was to return the glory that Jesus deserved to Him and never take credit or glory. He knew that he was baptizing people with water now, and that the One who would come in the future was Jesus Christ, who baptized people with the Holy Spirit and fire. At that time, Jesus had not yet made his official debut, and not many people knew him yet. But even so, John the Baptist did not dare to claim that he was the Christ they were waiting for, nor did he dare to overstep his bounds at all.
For those of us Christians who serve in front of and on stage. Whether you are preaching, leading singers, playing piano, or anything else that can be seen in front of others, brothers and sisters will most likely come over after you have finished your service and praise you for how good your sermon is, how beautiful your voice is, and how great you are at playing the piano. .
Once or twice, we will be embarrassed and shyly say, "Thank you," "You are too complimentary," and "Thank the Lord." I still feel uneasy in my heart, and I feel like everyone may be polite and kind-hearted.
After being constantly praised and encouraged and recognized many times, we gradually become a little complacent, feeling that we are very gifted and versatile, and the signs of pride begin to grow without even realizing it. Slowly, bit by bit, we may still humbly say thank you to God with our mouths, but our hearts have changed and we no longer give glory to God. We do not see who is sitting as king when the flood comes. Sit and reign forever. We forget who gives strength and who gives the blessing of peace. We think that it is the result of our own efforts, that we are naturally smart, and that everything is our own.
Have you ever tried driving in thunderstorm weather? There were dark clouds overhead, and the day was like night; the heavy downpour reduced visibility to the point where you could barely see anything a hundred meters ahead; at the same time, lightning struck down left and right one after another like crazy, and the thunder was so loud that it almost shook your ears. Deaf. I personally have had several such experiences. The most impressive one was that I felt that God was angry and we were going to be extinct this time. I worried about whether lightning would hit my car, and then I rested. Intellectually I know this is unlikely to happen as the material of the car's exterior does not conduct electricity. If you have ever experienced what I am talking about, you will understand that at that moment, you really experienced the power of the voice and the majesty of the voice. The voice of the Lord can break the cedar trees, shake the wilderness, and cause the doe to give birth.
The thunder of the glorious God shocks us people and reminds us fiercely who is the Lord and the Lord of heaven and earth and all things. Human beings are created in the image of God. We have wisdom and power, but I have to remember that it is given by God. In ancient times, humans thought they were smart and wanted to build the Tower of Babel. We all know the consequences. Today, humans are repeating the same mistakes, trying to copy organisms and change genes. People want to be gods again. We enjoy advanced technological equipment, and we use the items we create to improve health, enhance the quality of life, and extend life. But we must never forget that all of this is given by God. If God did not allow the sky to send rain and the earth to grow plants, would we still be alive? Human pride makes people do not know how to respect the earth created by God and all the creatures on it. We think that we are the masters and do whatever we want. I believe that when humans know how to give glory to God, our Creator, we will know how to respect Him, respect everything created by His hands, cherish and protect it, and do what a good steward should do.
In addition to church service, we also need to remember to give glory to Jehovah God in other aspects of our lives. I have shared on different occasions that I used to do live shows on radio to answer listeners’ difficult questions. Because it is a live broadcast, there is no time for you to look through books to find information. After listening and understanding the questions, you will immediately answer them live. Although the show is after 10 pm, after a long day of work, people are tired at night, but at that time, as long as the microphone is on, I feel energetic. No matter how difficult or complicated the audience's problems are, they are so easy for me to solve without any effort. The situations in the counseling room are even more colorful, ranging from marriage and family problems to mental illness, interpersonal relationships to employment and work problems, everything you can think of and unexpected. The amazing thing is that I feel like I have divine help. I have everything under my control. I seem to be able to handle everything one by one, helping patients grow and find a way out to continue to change.
As time went by, I was praised more and more, and I became proud. I forgot that I am quite introverted and indifferent by nature. I have taken an aptitude test and I am not suitable to be a counselor. I don't like to socialize, and I love staying at home alone. I'm a standard homebody, very homely. I became a counselor because of God’s calling, not because I liked it or had any special experiences or abilities or gifts in the past, so I dedicated myself to being a counselor. Really, it was because God had clearly called me to step into full-time employment as a counselor and teacher. I believe that God Himself has given me the gift of counseling, which is worthy of what He has called me to do, and to be able to accomplish what He has entrusted me with. In fact, to be more precise, God called me to be a tutor. He first gave me enough practical experience, and then moved to Xinglin as a teacher. When I am proud, I forget God’s work in me, God is the one who gives me power. I could feel that I was just like what was described in martial arts novels, with my internal energy leaking out, my martial arts completely useless, and my strength completely useless. I went from not putting any effort into having no clue about the problems of the case. The situation was very embarrassing, embarrassing and humiliating.
Voice, speaking of voice, the voice in the Psalms is majestic and severe, but in the Gospel of Luke, the voice from heaven is very different. The Bible says this: "21 When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. And as he was praying, heaven was opened, 22 and a spirit came down on him in the form of a dove; and a voice came from heaven, saying, : You are my beloved Son, and I am well pleased with you.” When John the Baptist confessed that he was not the Messiah, he did not rob Jesus Christ of the glory or take the credit. The result was that he was the Lord of heaven and earth and all things. The baptizer of Jesus, the Redeemer of the world. What an honor and grace that is.
Look at what Jesus said about John the Baptist in Chapter 7:
24 When those whom John had sent had departed, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, saying, What did you go out into the wilderness to see? Want to see the reeds blown by the wind? 25 What on earth do you want to see when you go out? Do you want to see people wearing soft clothes? The man who wears fine clothes and spends his days enjoying himself is in the palace. 26 What on earth do you want to see when you go out? Want to see a prophet? I tell you, yes, he is greater than the prophet. 27 This is the man of whom it is written: I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before you. 28 I tell you, there is no one greater than John among those born of women; but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus was not the only one who was baptized that day, but there were also other people. Only after Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened, the Spirit fell on Jesus, and then there was a voice from heaven, saying: "You are my beloved Son, and I am well pleased with you." This proves that Jesus is the Son of God and is the one who is to come. To whom John would give glory.
God puts us in different positions and gives us different identities. There is no distinction between high and low professions, and there is no distinction between high and low service. They are all entrusted by God and require us to commit ourselves to doing them well. Don’t belittle yourself and say that you are not good enough or can’t do it, because if God calls you, He will give you the ability you need. Just like me, who is originally cold, doesn’t like talking to others, and is considered arrogant by others, God can also use me as a psychological counselor or seminary lecturer. I think there is nothing that is impossible for God. If you are willing to be used by God and remember to give glory to those who deserve the glory, then nothing will be impossible.