“Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
“The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD, over many waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
“The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.
“The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
“The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’
“The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
May the LORD give strength to his people!
May the LORD bless his people with peace!” [1]
A tragedy of monstrous proportions has afflicted the churches of this day. A worship leader will stand with the worship team to lead the music. Almost inevitably that leader will say something like, “Let’s worship and then we’ll hear the sermon.” Without knowing that a transition has taken place, that worship leader has restricted worship to the singing of hymns. I am not disparaging singing, either congregationally or individually. However, when we attempt to define worship exclusively as singing, we do a grave disservice to the act of worship. It is not much different from a liturgical church that emphasises ritual to the exclusion of a message from the Lord. Both actions, whether singing or ritual, focuses on feeling rather than engaging the intellect. The Apostle Paul declared, “I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also” [1 CORINTHIANS 14:15].
I know that I speak of this often. The reason I do speak so frequently of worship, is that this life is the anteroom to Heaven. Here, we are preparing ourselves to worship. After this life, our worship will be perfected. However, as we worship now, we are permitted to catch a glimpse of God and the glory that He has promised we shall share with Him. We have trained ourselves to settle for a faux sense of ecstasy, so that we are kept from worshipping the True and Living God. When we do catch a momentary glimpse of Him, we are startled, left utterly astonished and awestruck—we hardly know what is happening.
Like John, when he encountered the Risen Son of God on Patmos, when we see Him, we fall at His feet as though dead [see REVELATION 1:17]. Like Saul of Tarsus as he travelled toward Damascus, we fall to the ground and cry out, “Who are you, Lord” [see ACTS 9:5]? What is marvellous and glorious is that when we do encounter the Living Saviour, though we are compelled to fall before Him, inevitably He touches us, raising us up and equipping us to serve Him with new energy, with new power. Having met Him, we find ourselves lost in wonder, in awe of His majesty, marvelling at His glory and stunned into silence before Him. Then, when He has raised us up, we find our voice and begin to praise Him, exalting Him in our hearts.
I know that among those to whom I speak are some who will say, “I’ve never experienced that.” Don’t you wish you did? Don’t you wish you had known the presence of the Living God, the glorious majesty of the conquering Christ? Jesus now walks among the lampstands, the churches which He has raised up. The elders of the churches are held in His hand, and they are charged to declare His majesty so that His people will know His presence. When we prepare ourselves to worship, seeking His face and spending time alone with Him in His Word, we will discover Him with us both in our daily life and especially when we united in worship as the community of Faith.
WORSHIP AMONG THE HEAVENLY BEINGS —
“Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
We mortals struggle to worship. It is not that we lack an idea of what we should do to worship; it is that we are uncertain what God expects of worshippers. Consequently, we tend to focus on what we experience, how we feel. Perhaps this should not be surprising. When we attempt to define “love,” we also always focus on what we feel rather than what we do. In short, the natural tendency of all mankind is to place “self” at the centre of life. If we will honour God, worshipping as we should, it would be wise to examine those beings who actually live in the presence of the Living God. Let’s look at worship as worship is practised by the angels.
This particular Psalm begins by urging the angels, addressed as “heavenly beings,” to ascribe to the LORD “glory and strength,” to ascribe to the LORD “the glory due His Name” and to “worship the LORD in the splendour of holiness.” The Psalmist understood that the angels of God worshipped Him, focusing especially on His glory and His strength, glory and strength that are revealed through His holiness. Holiness? Before we rush on, take a moment to reflect on this business of holiness. What is holiness? What is it to be holy? The term speaks of being separate, especially being separate from sin, separate from anything that defiles. God, therefore, is pure, undefiled, full of goodness and righteousness. For this, the angels worship Him.
When writing of the incarnation of the Son of God, the writer of the Letter to Hebrew Christians quotes DEUTERONOMY 32:43 from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. That citation reads, “Let all God’s angels worship Him” [HEBREWS 1:6b]. Therefore, we know that the angels worship and their worship exalts in particular the Lord’s glory and His strength. The angels are not in the least reticent in ascribing to the Lord “the glory due His Name.” Moreover, they worship Him “in the splendour of holiness.”
There are several truths to note before focusing on those offering worship before the Lord. First, I notice that there is no statement of how they feel, of what they experience. Contemporary Christian worship has done a great service in emphasising worship. For far too long, church services had forgotten that we are to worship. However, as the years move forward, I note that much of the praise music now produced increasingly speaks of what the singer feels rather than extoling the glory of the Living God. Candidly, if the songs were not being sung in a church, one could imagine them as ballads crooned by a love-sick girl for her first boyfriend. Worship among the heavenly beings ascribes to God glory because of Who He is. We will do well to worship Him because He is God.
Listen to Isaiah as he writes of what he witnessed during his commissioning service. Isaiah writes, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!’
[ISAIAH 6:1-3]
The angels, the seraphs, are shouting antiphonally of God’s holiness. They are moved by His perfect righteousness. The same should be true for us as we worship.
Again, I want to transport us to Heaven where we witness the angels engaged in worship. The Revelator describes a scene in Heaven that shall include the redeemed of God. Turn to REVELATION 4:6-11 to see what John wrote of what we shall witness in Heaven. Permit me to give a word of explanation of what we are about to see. The “four living creatures” that John describes are cherubs. The “twenty-four elders” is representative of the people of God redeemed out of this present Age of Grace.
This is what John saw. “Around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!’
“And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
‘Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.’”
[REVELATION 4:6-11]
Notice in this account of the worship of the angels, the cherubim, that they worship because of God’s holiness and His eternal nature; and when they worship, the redeemed of God join in worship. In casting our crowns before the throne, we are worshipping God because all that we have and all that we are of eternal worth is the result of His grace and of His mercy.
John sees another scene in Heaven as the Lamb of God, the Risen Son of God, approach the throne of the Father to receive the title deed to the earth. Listen to John’s description. “When [the Lamb] had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,
‘Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.’
“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!’
“And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’
“And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped [REVELATION 5:8-14].
The angels worship and the redeemed of God blend their voices in praise because of all that God has accomplished in making us a kingdom and priests to God. The angels join in praise with all creation because of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. What is fascinating about this scene is that though the angels join in worship, praising God because of the sacrifice of the Master and because of all that He accomplished through giving Himself for fallen mankind, they cannot understand what it means to be redeemed. No angel could ever be redeemed!
Peter reveals this wonder on the part of the angels when he writes, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look” [1 PETER 1:10-12].
REASONS TO WORSHIP —
“The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD, over many waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
“The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.
“The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
“The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’
The Psalmist provides multiples reason to praise the LORD—His power and majesty; His rule over all nature; His intimate oversight of even the most minute detail of life. Therefore, all creation cries, “Glory!” One cannot read such emphasis on creation praising the Living God without thinking of Paul’s words written to the saints in Rome. “The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” [ROMANS 8:19-22].
This passage from Paul’s Letter to Romans Christians was drafted to compel readers to gain a true perspective of all that is going on in life. At any given moment, it may appear that life is unfair, that wickedness is winning, that righteousness is dying in the street; however, the Apostle encourages believers to look to the creation, especially taking note that the creation is only barely restrained as it waits for “the revealing of the sons of God.” Doesn’t that make you think of John’s encouragement? “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” [1 JOHN 3:2]. We can only imagine! Let us praise God for what is coming.
It is a wonderful thing to praise God because He is worthy of praise. Surely, we saw that as the angels praise Him. However, there will always be those moments when we struggle to praise God because we hurt, because we are oppressed by evil, because we are frightened by the threats of this dying world. At such times, it is a good thing to remember God and what He has done on our behalf. As we recall Him and all that He has done for us, we will soon praise Him.
As David promoted Solomon to the throne, he praised God, saying, “The LORD God of Israel is worthy of praise because today he has placed a successor on my throne and allowed me to see it’” [1 KINGS 1:47 NET BIBLE]. David said that God is worthy of praise because He appoints whom He will to reign over His people—God is in control!
When Solomon contracted with Hiram for materials to build the Temple, Hiram “was very happy. He said, ‘The LORD is worthy of praise today because he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation’” [1 KINGS 5:7 NET BIBLE]. The statement emphasises the truth that David spoke in 1 KINGS 1:47—God deserves our praise because He appoints whom He wills to reign. Underscore in your mind that no one reigns, either over Israel or over the nations of the world, without God’s permission. Sometimes, those who reign do so as punishment because the people have forgotten the Living God. At other times, those who reign are given as a blessing because the people honour the LORD God. Surely, we can praise God because He is in control even of the nations.
At the dedication of the Temple, Solomon said, “The LORD God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David” [1 KINGS 8:15 NET BIBLE]. This truth continues a theme—God reigns, and because He reigns and does as He wills, He deserves our praise. God speaks, and His Word is true. We can depend upon the promises of God.
Having dedicated the Temple, the king blessed the people, saying “The LORD is worthy of praise because he has made Israel his people secure just as he promised! Not one of all the faithful promises he made through his servant Moses is left unfulfilled” [1 KINGS 8:56 NET BIBLE]! Again, God is worthy of praise because He fulfils His Word. Has God promised? He will do what He has promised.
As I prepared the message, I recalled the old-time testimony services, a feature absent from so many of our churches in this day. I recalled the old saint who stood to praise the Lord. Her testimony was, “I have only two teeth left in my head; I thank God those two teeth meet.” Perhaps most of us would have difficulty praising God for such a thing, but she saw that God was gracious even in the smallest detail of her life.
I love the tale of the old saint down in Texas who, when she was asked what her favourite verse of the Bible was, responded, “My favourite verse is that one that says, ‘It came to pass.’” Her interlocutor was surprised and asked for clarification. “What do you mean when you say your favourite verse is the one that says, ‘It came to pass?’’ The old saint replied, “Life can be hard sometimes and if I let it worry me, things could be unbearable. When life gets like that, I remind myself that ‘It came to pass.’ Nothing comes to stay; trouble always ‘came to pass.’” Few of us see things in that way, but what a great way to see what is taking place in our lives. Surely, we can praise God for such mercies!
A preacher was known for his ability to praise God in all situations. One Sunday morning, it was snowing that miserable, wet snow common to the early winter days. The furnace was out at the church. His car slid off the road becoming mired in a snow-filled ditch. As he walked to church, he slipped in the mud, ruining his new suit. The few parishioners that showed that day wondered how his fabled sunny disposition would be expressed that morning. Surely, the preacher would be discouraged on this day if he would ever be discouraged.
As the preacher stood to offer the pastoral prayer, he lifted his face to Heaven and said, “Father, I praise you that every day is not like this day!” That’s the way to honour God.
Surely, there are there saints who have encouraged you, perhaps even in this past week? Does their faithfulness cause you to worship God for enabling their faithful service, for preparing them to encourage you and others, for preparing them to provide needed comfort? Paul praised God for the Thessalonian saints, writing, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” [1 THESSALONIANS 1:2-10].
In a second letter to these saints in Salonica, Paul praised God for all that had been and was being accomplished through them. The Apostle used their faithful service to encourage them to look forward to what was coming at the return of the Master. Their growing faith, their increasing love for one another, their steadfastness and faith in all their persecutions and in the afflictions they were enduring gave “evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” [2 THESSALONIANS 1:5-12].
Seeing with eyes of faith, the Apostle could see God’s might and power displayed in what was despised in the world. Knowing that God was working out all things to the praise of His glory, the Apostle worshipped. He saw God’s might being displayed. Just so, we can see God’s might and majesty at work in this day and even among us if we will but look with eyes of faith. The Apostle saw that God was ruling over all and overruling all when he wrote, “Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” [1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31].
What reason shall we give for worship? We worship because we see beyond the moment, witnessing eternity unfolding even as we watch. By the mercies of God, we see His hand at work, preparing us for something far better than anything we could hope to possess here. Therefore, for us who are redeemed, we accept the reality of Paul’s admonition, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” [1 CORINTHIANS 15:19]. However, we have hope secured in eternity itself. Indeed, “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” [HEBREWS 6:19, 20].
THE IMPACT OF WORSHIP —
“The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
May the LORD give strength to his people!
May the LORD bless his people with peace!”
If all we claim to hold after having worshipped is a vague sense that we feel good about what we have done, our efforts are at best effervescent, ephemeral, a gossamer web that will melt in the harsh light of reality. However, we seek the face of the Living God, for when we have been in His presence, it will be obvious that we are transformed, even if only incrementally.
This reality is addressed when the Apostle writes, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” [ROMANS 8:26-30]. “Predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son,” and that transformation is now taking place as we worship.
Having stood in the presence of the Living God, we are equipped for service. When Moses had been with God on the holy mount, his face shone. The Word of God informs us, “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him” [EXODUS 34:29, 30].
The disciples that walked with the Risen Saviour as they travelled toward Emmaus would say, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures” [LUKE 24:32]?
One of the great, encouraging statements written of the ministry of the Apostles speaks of the impact of these early believers when confronted by those who were in opposition to the Faith. “When [the Jewish Council] saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” [ACTS 4:13]. When we speak with boldness, restricting ourselves to what God has given in His Word, we will astound those who hear us—and some will be converted to Christ.
The final two lines of the Psalm could be construed as a prayer. However, I accept that they are an affirmation of what the LORD does as His people worship. The LORD gives strength to His people, and it is significant that it is His people who are strengthened; also, the LORD blesses His people with peace. Strength and peace are divine gifts that should never be taken for granted, and these precious commodities are promised to God’s people as they worship.
David wrote a Psalm in which he extoled the LORD, saying, “You equipped me with strength for the battle” [PSALM 18:39]. If God gave David strength for the battles he would face, can we doubt that He will give us strength for the battles we will face? Isn’t this the intent of the promise given in the Great Commission? Jesus promised, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” [MATTHEW 28:18-20].
Authority belongs to the Risen Son of God and we go in His strength to fulfil His will. We advance knowing that He is with us always. We are never left alone. Moreover, the strength of the Living God is our strength. Note another of the Psalms. In the 21st PSALM, David begins and ends with his focus on the LORD’s strength.
“O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices,
and in your salvation how greatly he exults!”
“Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!
We will sing and praise your power.”
[PSALM 21:1, 13]
God, speaking through Isaiah, has given a wonderful promise of peace to His people.
“You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”
[ISAIAH 26:3, 4]
How comforting is the promise of God spoken through Isaiah in a later chapter.
“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered;
if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength.”
[ISAIAH 30:15 NET BIBLE]
This Psalm speaks of God’s rule over the storm, pointing to peace that comes from worshipping Him. It is said that among the early Christians, this Psalm was read to children and even entire congregations during times of storm, a practise commended to Christians in this day during the storms of life which threaten the peace and security of God’s people. When you are beset by trials, when the wicked appear to be in ascendency and the righteous are displaced, when evil seems to stride through the land silencing the good and the godly, I recommend reading this Psalm. God rules even over the storm; and peace comes when the storm has passed.
Spurgeon wrote of this Psalm, “Just as the eighth Psalm is to be read by moonlight, when the stars are bright, as the nineteenth needs the rays of the rising sun to bring out its beauty, so this can be best rehearsed beneath the black wing of tempest, by the glare of the lightning, or amid that dubious dusk which heralds the war of elements. The verses march to the tune of thunderbolts. God is everywhere conspicuous, and all the earth is hushed by the majesty of his presence.” [2] Wise words these.
God speaks of terror and judgement in the last days.
“The earth is utterly broken,
the earth is split apart,
the earth is violently shaken.
The earth staggers like a drunken man;
it sways like a hut;
its transgression lies heavy upon it,
and it falls, and will not rise again.”
[ISAIAH 24:19, 20]
What I would have you see is that even in that day of terror, God reigns.
“The LORD of hosts reigns
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and his glory will be before his elders.”
[ISAIAH 24:23]
How much more does God now reign? His glory will be before His holy people.
God, speaking through His prophet, spoke encouragement to those who were appointed to serve Him. Though they were weak and seemed to be nothing in the eyes of those who had given themselves to do evil, God wanted them to see with His eyes. Therefore, the LORD spoke, “Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts” [HAGGAI 2:4-9].
When God has shaken the earth for a final time, His peace shall reign. Until He has shaken the things identified with creation for a final time, that peace which shall finally reign over all creation can reign in our life. His peace, becomes the divine gift to those who worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Let His people ascribe to Him the glory due His Name. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalm 27-57, vol. 2 (Marshall Brothers, London; Edinburgh; New York n.d.) 29
