Psalm 29
1 (a poem by David. O sons of God, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name, and worship the Lord with holy ornaments.
The voice of the Lord is on the water. The god of glory thundered, and the Lord thundered over the great waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful; The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord shattered the cedars; The LORD shattered the cedars of Lebanon.
He also makes it leap like a calf, and Lebanon and Sirian leap like wild calves.
The voice of the Lord splits the flame.
The voice of the Lord shook the wilderness; The Lord shook the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord causes the doe to give birth, and the trees have no light. All who are in his temple call him glory.
10 when the flood flooded, the Lord sat as king; God is always king.
1 1 The Lord will give strength to his people; The Lord will keep his people safe.
In today's reading, the author of Psalm 29 uses imperative sentences in the first verse. He ordered the son of God to give glory and power to the Lord. Important things have to be repeated, so I told the Lord twice in the first verse. In the second verse, he said, "Give him the glory due to the name of the Lord!"!
It turns out that the saying that important things have to be said three times has existed for thousands of years. (Ha ha ha)
Yes, it belongs to the glory of God, but we can't take what is ours. Also in another passage today, Luke 3, 15-22, belongs to the glory and position of Jesus, and John the Baptist dare not go beyond and deprive it.
15 When people expect Christ to come, people all doubt that John is Christ.
16 John said, I baptized you with water, but someone with greater ability than me is coming, and I am not worthy to untie his shoelaces. He will baptize you with the holy spirit and fire. 17 He has a dustpan in his hand to clean up his fields, put the wheat in the barn and burn the chaff with an immortal torch. John used many other words to persuade people and preach the gospel to them.
Only Herod the tetrarch was rebuked by John because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the evil things he did. Another thing is to put John in prison.
2 1 All the people were baptized, and so was Jesus. When praying, the sky opened,
The holy spirit descended on him, shaped like a dove; And another voice from heaven said, You are my beloved son, and I am happy in you.
15 tells us that the people at that time were living in dire straits, and they were extremely looking forward to the arrival of the Messiah and saving them from their suffering. When these people saw what John the Baptist had done, they wondered whether this Baptist was the long-awaited Messiah. In this generation, there are many people who grab credit and steal the limelight. Some people even hurt others and take the credit that others deserve for themselves. Besides, John the Baptist had won fame and recognition at that time, and people had made him sit up and take notice, mistakenly thinking that he was the Christ, the Messiah, coming soon. At that time, Jesus had not yet made his debut, and few people knew him. If John the Baptist really knew him, it would be unnecessary. That's understandable.
Where is John the Baptist? An ordinary man.
He knows his identity very well and knows that he is not worthy to untie his shoelaces for anyone who is coming. How can he be Christ? Listen to his answer: 16 John said: I baptized you with water, but someone with greater ability than me is coming, and I am not worthy to untie his shoelaces. He will baptize you with the holy spirit and fire.
The response of John the Baptist recorded here is consistent with Psalm 29. What John the Baptist did was to give Jesus the glory he deserved, not to ask for credit or glory. He knows whether to baptize people now or with water, and which one will refer to Jesus Christ who baptizes people with the Holy Spirit and fire. At that time, Jesus had not officially made his debut, and few people knew him. But even so, John the Baptist did not dare to pretend that he was the Christ they were waiting for, and did not dare to go beyond it.
For us Christians who serve on and off the stage. Whether you preach, lead the singer, play the piano or everything you can see in front of everyone, your brothers and sisters are likely to praise how well you preach, how beautiful your voice is and how well you play the piano. Once or twice, we will be embarrassed, and then say "thank you", "you flatter me" and "thank the Lord". I am still not practical, and I think everyone may be polite and kind.
After being praised and encouraged many times, we gradually became a little complacent and felt that we were very talented, versatile and proud, and the signs began to grow and sprout unconsciously. Slowly, bit by bit, we may humbly say thank you to God, but our hearts have deteriorated and we no longer glorify God. We haven't seen who is the king during the flood and who is the king forever. We have forgotten who gave strength and who gave peace. We think that we earned it by our own efforts, that we are born smart, and that everything is in our own hands.
Have you ever tried driving in a thunderstorm? Dark clouds are gathering overhead, and the day is like night; The downpour reduces visibility, so that you can hardly see anything at 100 meters ahead; At the same time, God seems to be crazy. One by one, lightning strikes left and right, and the thunder is almost deafening. I personally have had several such experiences. The deepest impression was that God was angry, and this time we are going extinct. I was worried about whether lightning would hit my car, and then I rested. Intellectually, I know this is unlikely to happen because the material in the car shell will not conduct electricity. If you have experienced what I said, you will understand that at that moment, you really realized the power and majesty of sound. The voice of the Lord can shatter cedars, shake the wilderness, and give birth to doe.
The glorious god thunders, shocking us and reminding us who is the master and who is the master of all things in the world. Man is made in the image of God. We have wisdom and ability, but I must remember that this is given by God. In ancient times, people thought they were smart, and we all knew the consequences of building the Tower of Babel. Today, humans repeat the same mistakes to copy organisms and change genes. People want to be gods again. We enjoy advanced scientific and technological equipment, and we use our own products to improve our health, improve our quality of life and prolong our life. But we must never forget that all this is because of God. If God doesn't let it rain and plants grow on the land, can we still live? People's pride makes people not know how to respect the earth created by God and all living things on it. We are self-righteous and reckless. I believe that when human beings know how to honor God, our creator, we will know how to respect him, respect everything he has created, cherish him, protect him and do what a good housekeeper should do.
In addition to church service, other aspects of our lives also need to remember to glorify the Lord God. I have shared it on different occasions. I have done live programs on the radio to answer the intractable diseases of the audience. Because it is a live broadcast, there is no time to find information for you. Answer the question immediately after you understand it. Although the program is after 10 in the evening, people are very tired after a day's work, but at that time, as long as I turn on the microphone, I feel refreshed. No matter how difficult and complicated the audience's questions are, I solved them as easily as blowing off dust. The situation in the consulting room is even more colorful, from marriage and family problems to mental illness, from interpersonal relationships to employment and work problems, you can think of everything. Surprisingly, I am really under control with the help of God. It seems that I can handle all cases one by one, help them grow and find ways to continue to change.
After a long time, I was praised a lot and became proud. I forgot that I am quite introverted and indifferent by nature, and I am not suitable to be a psychological counselor after taking the sexual orientation test. I don't like socializing. I like being alone at home. I am a standard stay-at-home girl, and every family is very curtilage. I became a counselor because of God's call, not because I like it, nor because I had any special experience and ability in the past, so I devoted myself to being a counselor. Really, it's because God specifically called me to be a full-time counselor teacher. I believe that God himself gave me a gift of counseling, which is commensurate with what he called me and can accomplish what he entrusted me with. In fact, to be more accurate, God called me to be a tutor, and after I had enough practical experience, I went to Xinglin to be a teacher. When I proudly forget what God has done to me, God is the one who gave me strength. I can feel myself, as described in the martial arts novels. My internal strength is completely lost, my martial arts are completely wasted, and my strength can't be fully exerted. I don't have a clue about a case. It's embarrassing, embarrassing and embarrassing.
Voice, speaking of voice, the voice in the poem is terrible and harsh, but in the gospel of Luke, the voice from heaven is very different. The scripture says, "All the people were baptized, and Jesus was baptized. While he was praying, the sky opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in the shape of a dove. Another voice came from heaven, saying, "You are my beloved son, and I am pleased with you. "When John the Baptist admitted that he was not the Messiah, he did not rob the glory of Jesus Christ. As a result, he was the one who baptized Jesus, who was the Lord of the universe and the savior of the world. What an honor and grace it is. Look at what Jesus said about John the Baptist in Chapter 7:
When the men sent by John left, Jesus said to them, What did you go out to see? Reed blown by the wind? What did you go out to see? A man in beautiful clothes? Those who wear gorgeous clothes and enjoy themselves are in the palace. What did you go out to see? Prophet? I tell you, yes, he is more than a prophet. It is written that I will send my messenger to prepare the way before you, and this is the man I am talking about. I tell you, among all the women born, no one is greater than John; However, the smallest in the kingdom of God is bigger than him.
Luke told us that not only Jesus was baptized that day, but also others were baptized. Only after Jesus was baptized, the sky opened, the Holy Spirit fell on Jesus, and then a voice came from heaven, saying, "You are my beloved son, and I am glad for you." Prove that Jesus is the son of God, and John will give glory to him who is coming.
God put us in different positions and gave us different identities. There is no distinction between high and low occupation and high and low service, which is given by God and needs our efforts to do well. Never sell yourself short and say that you are not good enough, because if God calls you, he will give you the abilities you need accordingly. Just like me, who is indifferent to people and is considered arrogant, God can be a psychotherapist or a lecturer in a seminary. I don't think there is anything that God can't do. If you are willing to be used by God and remember to give glory to those who deserve it, then nothing is difficult.