Tuesday, February 10, 2009

'The Splendour of His Holiness'

Struck by a phrase in Psalm 96 this morning, "Worship the Lord in the Splendour of His Holiness; tremble before Him all the earth."
WOW!! When was the last time you walked away from a worship service at your local contemporary church hearing people remark with wonder, "I was struck today by the splendour of the Holiness of God!" No no no, more than likely there will only be conversation about the quality of the music heard and the quality of emotion felt during any modern-day worship session.

Can this be right? Do we EVER TREMBLE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD ANYMORE? I fear not, and if this is the case surely we should be alarmed. If the Psalmist is telling us this is how we should worship, why then is this such a foreign, even alien, experience in the life of a modern 'worshiper'? Well the answer is simple-- WE WORSHIP A DIFFERENT GOD, A MAN MADE GOD. And made not by the outworking of our tumbling into a secularly dominated culture, but by us as Christians ourselves. We have made this new God, this God of love devoid of Holiness. A God who must love us, a God who needs us, a God itching to grant us our multitude of wishes BUT IN NO WAY THE GOD OF DAVID AS REVEALED IN PSALM 96.

Please, my friends start crying out to God that He would show you more of who He is. Are you bold enough, are you humble enough?
For I will say these words that I spoke to our student group two years ago

“Our understanding and belief in what the Holiness of God means will define every other thing in life.”
“No other thing is more important for Xtians and Xtianity today than a God-given understanding of His holiness.”


Believe it, its true.

Simon

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