higher.

When I was flying back to NoVa from NY, i was looking out my window, & a song came on my ipod called "Higher" by Hillsong [look it up.. it's a great song!] some of the lyrics are this:

For unto us a Saviour came
Amazing grace that takes the weight
His name is hope for all the earth
His name now and beyond this life
'God with us'

And You shall be called Almighty God
And we shall declare
Your name is higher, higher
Jesus Christ Your name is glorious
Your name is greater, sweeter
In all the earth, higher, higher

As I'm who-knows-how-high up in the sky flying on this plane, she sings "Your name is higher" & i started to think about that. His Name is higher. higher than i was at that moment up in the sky.

now, this term isn't being used in the physical, or distance sense, rather, it is being used like "greater" or "more favorable", etc. but if you could measure greatness by distance, the greatness of God would be higher than 30,000 feet, amongst the clouds, higher than the birds.. etc. that's a pretty great God, if you ask me!

it was such a great reminder to me that He is in control. He is SO great! & greatly to be praised.. so lets do that this week. lets praise Him in our lifestyle & in the hard or easy times remember how high his Name is.

wait.

And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. Deliver me from all my transgressions.

-Psalm 29:7-8a

Isn't a lot of life about waiting? Especially in the Christian life. A lot of time is spent trusting in God & waiting for Him to move or direct us.

Earlier in this Psalm, David talks about the fleeting vanities of the human life - things that men & women hold onto & cling to. He talks about the "things of this world" & how the Lord despairs those that find happiness from these things. He basically increases the readers' awareness of how vain & frail the "things of this world" really are.

At this point in the Psalm, David is responding to God, & appealing to Him about this subject. He is essentially communicating: "Why do I wait since I know there is nothing on earth worth waiting for? Oh well. I will put my hope in you & whatever you have for me on this earth."

Matthew Henry writes in his commentary about this passage of Scripture: "The consideration of the vanity & frailty of human life should deaden our desires to the things of this world & lower our expectations from it."

So true.

David expresses later in the Psalm how much he desires God over the "things of this world." He also gives a warning: that we cannot put our identity or our trust in the "things of this world." We must put them in God alone.

What we can ultimately extract from this short passage is this: though this world offers nothing to our expectation, God is worthy of all confidence nonetheless. He is worthy.

We must get to the point where this is more than just head knowledge.

We must seek to daily:

1) recognize the seriousness of our human nature

2)put our fleshly desires & vanity aside

3)consider how to put all confidence & hope in Him

4)trust that He will continue to give us grace as we grow through sanctification

weary.

The man declares, I am weary, O God, & worn out. Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. - [Psalm 30:1-3]

These verses had become my prayer for so long. "Lord, I am not doing a good job. Lord, I keep messing up. I must be so stupid. What am I not getting?"

But I have discovered verse 5 of this passage:

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

The first 3 verses start out by saying what MAN declares. These aren't facts, but rather, lies that I have been believing & telling myself.

But on the contrast, every word from God proves true.

In order to really know what this means, to really know what exactly IS true, we much know what God says. We must know the truth of his Word. Through this, he will shield us from the lies of the evil one.

When we take refuge in God & in the truth of his word, we will be shielded from these lies.

So the question then, is this: what does it look like to take refuge in God?