February 15th, 2024
"Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens." Have we ever stopped to consider what the majesty of God is? Certainly, it is a thought we encounter in the scriptures often enough and surely it is an idea placed within many of our worship songs. But, have we truly taken a few moments to ponder what the majesty of God really is? I believe this is something David often thought about because we see him write about it in many places within the Psalms. However, I do not think his intention was for us to glaze over the words and catch a few good feelings from the phrases. He must have sincerely wanted us to join him in the absolute adornment of God and the infinite splendor of His nature. Let us join him for a few moments today.
The word "majesty" in the Old Testament rarely grants to us a full and wide definition. This is simply because the majesty of God is hard to explain and define. Nonetheless, we have an amazing basis for understanding what the Bible speaks of. The majesty of God is the highly exalted authority of God expressed in glorious beauty. That might sound more complicated than we want it to be but this is exactly what it is. God does not just desire His creation to fear and tremble before the sheer magnitude of His greatness. He also wants us to adore and stand in wonderful awe of His greatness. It's the difference between standing before a dark, fear-mongering king and one who is wrapped in light and beauty. We bow down to the first king with terror and anxiety but we bow down to second with humble delight and worship.
When David writes "how majestic is your name in all the earth", he is capturing both the Lord's unmatched authority and also His incomparable beauty. The Lord sits at the most exalted seat of the universe but also glows in awesome brilliance for all to see. We may simply say, the Lord is not only big and mighty but He is also beautiful. He is not just to be feared, He is also to be adored. We cannot just tremble before the Lord without simultaneously experiencing the wonder of His beauty. We have God as both our sovereign king and also our heavenly father- this distinguishes His majesty. Have we even begun to consider these things about our Lord?
I believe many times we are all too dazzled and impressed by the fading beauties this world has to offer. When we see jewels that shine and material objects that catch our affections, we get lost in temporary wonder. When we hear names of the famous and elite, our minds are immediately captivated by the latest news affecting their lives. But David is calling the Christian to a higher and greater beauty. Similar to Paul, David beckons us to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2). He wants us to see the Lord as Isaiah saw Him, highly exalted, seated on the throne with the train of His robe filling the temple (Isaiah 6:1). When our eyes catch a glimpse of Him, we see who He really is; we see Jesus Christ. This is the one that David is pointing us to. He is the perfect majesty of God given to us and expressed in human form! Just as the writer of Hebrews states, we are to see Him as the radiance of God's glory, the exact imprint of His nature and as the very one who upholds the universe by the power of His word (Hebrews 1:3). Have we worshipped Him as such?
The plea today is to fight the temptation to reduce our worship of God to such a limited, earthly adornment. We must take our worship deeper. The Lord our God should not be an idol we create and decorate with finite earthly materials. His is comprised of infinite worth which cannot be located anywhere in this world. In fact, David writes in the tail end of verse 1 that God has set His glory in the heavens, not on the earth. Let us not be mesmerized by the promotions, the resources, the treasures and the wealth of this world. Lift your eyes higher today. Gaze into the infinite majesty of God. Bow down, worship and sing unto the glory of His name. Begin to see what the angels see as John wrote about in his vision:
The son of man dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. (Revelation 1:13-16).