Glory to the Great Lord
"The Lord is great and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable" (Psalm 145:3).
Currently, the Korean youth soccer team is playing against Brazil. Many Korean soccer fans are likely watching the game, hoping that Park Ju-young will score a goal, just like he did during the match against Nigeria. Park Ju-young, a Christian, is known for always kneeling and praying as part of his goal celebration. I remember seeing that on the TV news as well. As a Christian soccer player, the act of kneeling and praying, in front of many viewers either directly or on TV, is a way of giving glory to God. However, not all of us are as famous as Park Ju-young. Nevertheless, each of us has the responsibility to give glory to the Great Lord in our own lives. Today, I want to reflect on how the Psalmist David gave glory to the Great Lord, and consider how we can apply this in our own lives.
First, David commemorated the "Great Grace" of the Great Lord.
Look at Psalm 145:7: "They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness..." David remembered and commemorated the great grace of the Lord. By remembering and commemorating the great grace that the Great Lord has bestowed upon each of us, we are able to give glory to the Great Lord. However, too often we either underestimate or forget the "great grace" that God has given us. Therefore, David sought wisdom to be able to count God's blessings. We need this wisdom as well. We must look back on our lives and reflect on the footprints of God's grace, remembering and commemorating His great grace.
We must give glory to the Great God. To do this, we must first take time to reflect on our lives. In doing so, we should remember and commemorate God's "great grace."
Second, David gave "great praise" to the Great God.
To "praise greatly" means to "extol the great works or the great power of the Lord" (v. 4). Therefore, to "praise greatly" the Lord, we must meditate, like David, on "the splendor and glorious majesty of the Lord and His wondrous works..." (v. 5). In particular, when meditating on the Lord's "works," we should reflect on the goodness (v. 9) and mercy (v. 9) that God has shown us. Without His goodness and great mercy, we would not have come this far. Furthermore, we should meditate on the Lord's righteousness and grace (v. 17). The Lord, who "upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down" (v. 14), has also fulfilled our desires (v. 16), and therefore, we must praise the great Lord greatly.
Pastor Hong Seong-geon of the Jesus Evangelism Group distinguished between "praise" and "worship," stating that praise is the act of exalting the works that God has done in our lives. We must develop the good habit of taking time to reflect on our lives amidst our busy routines. In this process, we must learn to see the works that God is doing in our lives with spiritual eyes. I believe this is something that can only be recognized through faith. When we do this, we will have no choice but to praise the great Lord in a great way.
When we worship God, we must first prepare our hearts through prayer centered on His Word. As we meditate on His great grace and remember the great things He has done for us, we must thank and marvel at His grace, and praise the great Lord in a great way. However, if our praise, offered with a loud voice, comes from ignorance of what God has done, it holds no meaning in His eyes. In fact, it will only hurt His ears. Praise that rises from a heart that remembers God's great grace and the great things He has done, with gratitude and emotion, will bring glory to God.
Finally, thirdly, David "proclaimed" the greatness of God in a great way.
Look at Psalm 145:6: "… I will also declare Your greatness." David did not only praise the greatness of God with his lips, but he truly proclaimed God's greatness through his life. This is where we fall short. We may appear to proclaim God's greatness with our lips, but in reality, we proclaim a "small God" through our lives. We confine the great God in doubts, not trusting fully in Him, and in anxiety, worry, and fear, we show a very small God to the unbelievers around us. As a result, we hear them ask, "Is that person's God really so small?" We can see this in our "small love." We loudly proclaim to love our neighbors, but isn’t our love for them too small? If our love for our neighbors were as great as God's greatness, I wonder if our society would still be like this. Our lives show not the great God, but a God of fighting, division, jealousy, envy, and so on. We can no longer live this way. We must live a life like David, proclaiming the great God. We must never diminish Him to a "small God," for doing so would obscure His great glory.
While writing this reflection, I came across the news that the Korean youth football team lost to Brazil. As expected, there was no "goal ceremony" from Park Ju-young. I saw some comments on Yahoo News, such as: "Christians, why did we lose? Our country’s Christian team, from the coach to the players, is made up of Christians... Was our prayer power lacking compared to Brazil?", "It’s not the national team that lost, but the 'Jesus Freak' team… Keep your heads up." "The 'Jesus Freak' team lost," what do you think about these comments? The world is watching us "Jesus Freaks." As children of God, we have the responsibility to give great glory to the great Lord. How can we truly give glory to the great Lord? Is it like in football, by scoring goals? We must give glory to the great Lord by remembering and celebrating His "great grace." We must also give glory to Him by "greatly praising" Him. And we must "proclaim" the greatness of God through our lives to give glory to Him.
Meditating on the great grace of the great Lord,
Pastor James Kim
(With a heart full of gratitude for God's great grace, who desires to work great miracles, like the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, through someone as small as me)