To Magnify God-1

To MAGNIFY GOD—Psalm 34:3(:1-10)

[VBS Theme—‘Magnified’—Psalm 34:3]

Attention:

From 1981-1989 I was an ‘Assistant Coordinator’ working in a particular lab, under one of the researchers at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, outside of Savannah, Georgia on Skidaway Island. Skidaway was & is a ‘marine research’ lab established & partially funded thru the University of Georgia.

In the years there, my job was to analyze samples of zooplankton that our lab had collected along multiple transects that were run off the coasts of Georgia & Florida. We took into account the specific oceanic depths, salinities, temperatures & other physical properties, that existed where the animals had been collected.

•The vast majority of my time in the lab was spent seated & looking thru a ‘stereo-microscope’ to identify & tabulate the individual & total numbers of zooplankton, that were in each sample, dividing them by species & sex if possible.

After having tabulated the zoological findings, I would physically graph them in the water column by species. Our conclusions would give the ‘big-picture’ of what was happening in that particular part of the Atlantic Ocean. Our research revealed how the resident zooplankton responded to changes in the water & vice-versa.

Our research would then be analyzed by our particular lab’s Director, who would then work up & publish our findings in respected scientific journals.

*So, by our ‘Magnifying’ the zooplankton—which are largely unseen to the naked eye—our lab was able to combine it’s findings with that of other labs at Skidaway, & draw firm conclusions about the state of the ocean’s dynamics, it’s health, or the lack thereof.

*Without ‘Magnifying’ the zooplankton, the research would have been pointless!

*Likewise, the Church must Magnify God, they must ‘make much of’ God, so that He, His nature, His character, & His workings can be easily seen by the world at large!

•So, in general, our job, as the church, is To MAGNIFY GOD!

Need:

When a person does not magnify God, make much of Him, or elevate Him to His proper position & place in life, the person’s entire life become self-centered. A life uncommitted to God, is severely & detrimentally limited in scope. That self-centeredness causes people, to live their lives within the narrowly confining limitations of this created world’s acceptance & knowledge. And that is why there is so much unrest in the world.

By God’s design, what is expected of every person & what every person is called to, is to personally ‘Magnify’, make much of, or elevate YHWH-God. However, God’s expectation for mankind, & His calling to mankind, is left to each person’s personal choice, so that every person is personally answerable to God, for whether they follow God’s design or not!

Php. 2:12, 13—“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear & trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will & to do for His good pleasure.”

David was a recipient of YHWH-God’s protection(deliverance/rescue), & so David magnified Him.

God’s people magnify God.

How do/can you magnify God?

When do we truly magnify God?

When is God magnified in your life?

6 realities necessary for magnifying YHWH-God in your life.

2—To Magnify God In Your Life, God must be...

SHARE-WORTHY To You(:2b-3)

Explanation:(:2b-3)

:2b—“...The humble shall hear of it & be glad.”

:3—“Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.”

:2b—“...The humble shall hear of it & be glad.”

Those who are “humble” & ‘contrite’ of heart(:18), shall “hear” the praising “boasts” of those who trust in Ever-existent & eternal God!

•Ps. 34:18—“The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”

“Contrite”—akd dak-kaw’—Noun Masc.--1) Dust. •Adjective Masc. Plural Construct--2) Contrite. Strong—Crushed(literally--Powder, or figuratively--Contrite). Used 3X--Ps. 34:18; Ps. 90:3; Isa. 57:15.?From—akd daw-kaw'—To crumble; transitively--To bruise(literally or figuratively); a primitive root(compare hkd daw-kaw'—To collapse(physically or mentally)).

“Contrite”—“Feeling or showing sorrow & remorse for improper or objectionable behavior, actions, etc.”(MW) “Feeling or expressing remorse or penitence; affected by guilt.”(NOAD)

And such “humble” people are cheered or “gladdened” by such Good News. And particularly by the Good News that is in Christ Jesus!

:3—“Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.”

The writer(King David) invites his audience to do, as he himself is doing. David wants others to experience the same awe & love for YHWH-God that he himself has. David wants all/others from among his people—God’s people—to recognize YHWH-God as entirely worthy of personal & collective national “magnification.”

David is “magnifying the LORD”! David is publicly/openly/unashamedly lifting up the eternally existing YHWH.

And David invites his subjects(national Israel) & invites you & me today, to “exalt” or lift up YHWH-God’s very “name.” David invites them & you & me to “exalt” the “name” of YHWH-God corporately(“together”).