God of Glory

People are simply created to worship God. That is their primary purpose in this existence. In creating human beings, God has fashioned us perfectly to respond to him in worshipful response in everything we do.

The main problem in the world is contained in one little word―sin. Paul tells us in one short verse in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, NET). Sin is essentially rebelling against God in all that we do. It is ludicrous to think that a being created to worship will do anything else but worship. When we turn our lives away from God, we still worship, but it is no longer worship of God. It is worship of creation as Paul says in Romans 1: 25 “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! (NET)”

This Psalm of David (Psalm 29) hits squarely on that. David is contrasting the God of creation to the “gods” of ancient paganism, and of course modern paganism as well in all of its various manifestations, and its sheer impotence in the face of the matchless power of our true, one God of heaven and earth. It is a description of God’s unbelievable power in the geological forces of the earth―the thunderstorm precisely―and how this is just one of the many mysterious and awesome things in God’s creation that display his power and confirms constantly the power of our God against all other so-called “gods.” It is a divine rebuke against all that would challenge the true God in the original context of paganism and the worship of Baal in Old Testament Israel.[i]

And it is true here, now, today. There is no force, be it the imagined pagan gods of the world or the substitute gods of our own selfish, sinful inclinations that can stand in the place of our one true God.

There is only one God. The God of Scripture. The God of the Bible. The God of the follower of Jesus Christ, God's incarnate Son.

That is who we worship.

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Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Psalm 29 ESV

©2018 by Ben Bounds. All rights reserved.

[i] See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 150 (1994): 280-82. Also NET translator’s note 1 on this Psalm.

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We can come to know Christ through confession of our sins and repentance (turning away from sin). Let me encourage you to do this by talking to God through prayer. Here is an idea of how you might do that:

"Dear God, I believe your son Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day following his death. I confess my sins, all of them, to you now with a humble heart. I repent of those sins and ask you to empower me with your Holy Spirit in overcoming further sin. Amen”

If you prayed this or a similar prayer committing your life to Christ and becoming one of his followers, let me encourage you to find a good, Bible-believing church. If you live in the Weslaco/Rio Grand Valley area of Texas, let me invite you to the church I attend, Mid-Valley Assembly (www.midvalleyassembly.com).

Begin talking to God in prayer and reading the Bible daily. A good way to begin to read the Bible is to start with the Book of John in the New Testament.

Feel very free in connecting with me if you need any further help in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this via the above email or facebook page or this web page.

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Mercy Road Ministries was founded and now led by Ben Bounds. Ben has pastored churches across Texas for over thirty years and is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He holds a BA in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God College and did graduate theological studies at the BMA Theological Seminary.

Ben's first book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God, was released on 12.08.2017 through Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. It is available in paperback and hardback through your preferred bookseller (Mardels, Barnes and Noble, etc.) and paperback, hardback as well as ebook through online book retailers (www.christianbook.com, www.cokesbury.com, www.amazon.com, www.booksamillion.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.).

Ben is the host of Staying in Bounds, an on-air Bible devotional broadcast multiple times daily on KWJV 103.7 FM Weslaco, TX which can also be heard worldwide online at www.kwjvthestar.com. Ben and his wife, Linda, together have four adult children and nine grandchildren. They live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

Ben can be contacted for preaching engagements at benbounds695@gmail.com or 903.441.3279. Ben can also be contacted via his website @ www.benbounds.com, which is also his blog and contains more information about his ministry.

Follow Ben @ https://www.facebook.com/mercyroadministries/ and this website www.benbounds.com.