Sunday Class @ 9am; Worship @ 10am & 5pm
Articles
Our Rightful Place Before God
Do you ever get spiritually low or weak? Do you sometimes feel that you need something to buoy your faith? Sometimes as a believer in the one and true living God, especially when I am feeling spiritually low or weak, I try to remind myself of His awesome power. If we will often remind ourselves of our rightful place before God, our cares can be lifted and we can find a peace in His omnipresence. In Psalm 104:1-9 David reminds us of God’s might. “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty.” (ESV, vs. 1). “The waters stood above the mountains. 7At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. 8The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.” (ESV, vs. 6-8).
As David mentions, mountains are the perfect place for personal, powerful encounters with God’s power. Not long ago my wife and I were able to visit Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN, and I will never forget the feeling we both shared as we looked down upon God’s beautiful creation below. The feeling is hard to describe, but you just sense the greatness of the One who created the mountain you stand on and you sense an appreciation for all that He has done for you. As you experience a view from a mountain you are reminded how small we are and how great and all powerful our Creator and Father is. As I reflect on that feeling I am reminded of the words of the prophet in Habakkuk 3:6 that says, “He stood and measured the earth; He looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low.” Yes, God is all powerful and can shake the earth, move mountains, and reform the earth at His command. This should remind us that God is great and we are beneath Him, which is our rightful place before God.
From the beginning of time man has attempted to equalize himself with God. It began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve followed the deception from Satan and ate of the fruit that would make them “be like God, knowing good and evil” (ESV, Gen. 3:5). It continued in Gen. 11, when man again set out on a foolish plan to “make a name for ourselves” (vs. 4) by building a tower “with its top in the heavens” (vs. 4). In the New Testament we continue to see examples of worshipping false idols and false gods instead of God in another attempt of man to narrow the divide between God and ourselves.
Instead of trying to equalize ourselves with God we need to have a proper view of Him, and that will help reverse our sinful nature to balance ourselves with Him. When we see God as being above us, beyond us, highly exalted, over us, and totally separate from us, we will place ourselves in an acceptable place to God – under His awesome hand. When we embrace God for who He is, then we will properly understand who we are. When we know God’s place, we can know our place. When we see God as He really is – holy, sovereign, separate and above us – it will place everything and every one of us in our rightful place before God. So whether your view of the creation is from a mountain, a plane, or your front yard remember God is completely in charge and He is the one “who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke!” (ESV, Psalm 104:32).
