Rejoicing in other's blessings

August 13, 2015

Worship: Take me into the Beautiful by Cloverton; Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning by Reginald Heber

Take me into the beautiful
Won't you take me back again
With a love unexplainable
Come and fill up this dry land
Let it open our eyes
To see a world we've never seen
Let it open our hearts up
To feel You inside of us
You're here inside of me

            Chorus

            Take me into the beautiful
            Where the rivers flow
            Where the love that never ends
            Oh I wanna go
            To the beautiful

            Take me into the beautiful
            Where the faces glow
            Where the lights that never dim
            Oh I wanna go
            To the beautiful
            Come on and take me again

Take me into the mystery
Gently lift me with Your grace
Make the chaos a chorus
With Yourself come fill this place
Cover me with Your mercy
Come and cover me with love
Cover me so that all might see
That it's You, not me
It is You that I am singing of

            Chorus

Bridge

A love that's brighter than diamonds
When I am with You
A love that always invites us
To be with you
Your love is brighter than diamonds
Now that I'm with You

            Chorus

Lyrics: http://www.songlyrics.com/cloverton/take-me-into-the-beautiful-lyrics/

Video: https://youtu.be/-ACsL84v_Fg

Brightest And Best Of The Sons Of The Morning (Morning Star)

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,

Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid;

Star of the East, the horizon adorning,

Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;

Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;

Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,

Maker and Monarch and Savior of all!

Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,

Odors of Edom and offerings divine?

Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,

Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,

Vainly with gifts would His favor secure;

Richer by far is the heart's adoration,

Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

(from Biblesoft Hymnal, PC Study Bible electronic database Copyright © 2003-2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Video: https://youtu.be/yIW2a5pFYAk

Personal: Day three of the rush. Projects get in the way of my quiet time. Getting up too late, too, and going to bed too late. I found a marvelous hymn sung at Christmastime. Must be a well known one, though I have never heard of it, nor is it on any Christmas album I have as far as I know. I say well known because there are at least five different tunes it is sung to, and YouTube has a lot of versions of it. I especially like the last verse, which says:

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,

Vainly with gifts would His favor secure;

Richer by far is the heart's adoration,

Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

Word:

Ps 22: 22-24 22 I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. 23You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 24For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help NIV

Ps 22:22-24 22 I will tell of Your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. 23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel. 24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard. NASU

The Psalmist now breaks into testimony and praise (see also v. 25). In the midst of his circumstances, the LORD breaks through the dark clouds of suffering, and the light of His grace and mercy shines through! So too, our Lord and Savior arose and testified to His disciples and many witnesses of His resurrected body. So also, He will come again in glory with His angels and the redeemed to dwell and reign here for a thousand years, followed by the coming new heavens and earth for eternity, testifying to the grace and mercy of God the Father. Seated at the right hand of the Father, He will reign forever, and we, with all the host of heaven, will, in Spirit-led worship, praise our great God and Savior forever. Blessed Trinity!  

Notice that not only will he/He testify to God’s deliverance “in the assembly,” but he/He exhorts all God’s people to do the same. This is certainly the proper response when God personally delivers us from suffering or answers our prayers or grants us some special blessing. However, the reason for David’s and our Savior’s testifying is given in verse 24. Why are we to praise Him? Why are we to honor and glorify Him? Why are we to revere and stand in awe? Because:

He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard. NASU

So the reason given is not personal deliverance, answers to prayers, or blessings. No, the reason given is God’s deliverance of David, their king and most gloriously of our Savior, who testified by the Spirit of prophecy in Psalm 16:10:

“you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.” NIV 2011

Therefore, we rejoice in God’s work in another’s life, not just our own. That is more difficult in our extremely narcissistic society. How often, when God is working in someone else’s life, are we inclined to be envious rather than encouraged and enjoy seeing the evidence of the Lord’s grace at work? How often are we jealous instead of joyful?   But we are exhorted in Romans 12:15 to “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Here is an opportunity to praise our God, join in sweet Koinonia (fellowship), and rid ourselves of self-centeredness.

Blessed be the God who delivers us from all afflictions and delivers us safely into His Kingdom of light and glory and peace. Amen!