Ascribe To The Lord The Glory Due His Name

So how was your day yesterday? And the day before that? How about the one before that? Sometimes we don't think about it as much as we should and other times we think about it too much. But here we are on another Sunday, a day of reflection, of thanksgiving, of celebration as we worship Jesus our Lord. We have arrived on this day with all the baggage we picked up over the last week and probably with some we have been carrying with us for a long time. We need to do something with all this baggage because it is weighing us down.

It is a perfect day to deal with it because it is a day we are focusing on the greatness of our God. It is important that we deal with it because it is getting in our way. We are not here for ourselves. Our stuff was taken care of on the cross; the day we accepted Jesus as Lord all our "things" were swept away. We were told not to pick up any more "things", that we no longer belong here but we have been left here to serve God's purpose. So we are servants and servants don't take care of their own needs, their master does that for them so they are free to serve. That is exactly what Jesus promised us. He told us not to worry about our needs, that our Father will take care of us, but we are to  seek the things of the Kingdom. That means serve.

If we have all this baggage we keep picking up and carrying around with us we get to the point where we are too busy managing it to be able to serve. Serving is when we are occupied with other people, being part of their life. If we don't love people we need to question our love for God. Worshiping, learning and growing are important parts of our lives which keep us focused and healthy but if that is all there is then we are in the wrong. We are here to be an influence for Jesus in people's lives. Plain and simple. So let's take care of this baggage.

We do that by remembering who we serve and giving all the baggage over to him. We probably can't find solutions to them anyway and it is the reason we are carrying them around in the first place. Jesus can find solutions and restore our peace. So, let's remember who he is. The psalmist wrote:

Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, 
   ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; 
   worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. (Psalm 29:1-2)

Ascribe means to say that it belongs to the Lord, it is his character, to credit him with this thing. The psalmist is saying realize this is who our God is. So, as you stand there with all that baggage confess with your mouth the glory and strength of our Lord. Allow him to be as big, as large, as mighty, as powerful as he is. As you allow him to be that powerful in your life your baggage begins to look pretty small. Compare it to his largeness instead of to your smallness.

We glorify God for everything he has done in the past, for everything we read in the Word, for what he has done in other people's lives but we often fail to glorify him in ours. What has he done in our lives? What has he done for me? How has he helped me in the past? How many times has he rescued me? How faithful to his promises has he been in my life? I need to credit him with these things. I need to credit him the glory due his name because of the many things he has done for me. As I do this I begin to know I can trust him with this baggage I have refused to let go of because he has been faithful with so many things in my life. I now feel overwhelmed with the need and desire to glorify him by trusting him with everything. That's what happens when we truly worship our Lord.

I really like how the psalmist refers to us as "mighty ones". That is very insightful into what we become when Jesus is truly Lord over us, when we trust him with everything and glorify his name in our living a life of trust. We become mighty ones because nothing can shake us or cause fear to reduce us. We are like mighty warriors who are not afraid of the battle because we are confident of the strength of our King. We serve in his army, glad to lay down our lives because it no longer belongs to us. We realize that our lives are for the glory of our King, that we are here to serve and our service is to others. Jesus said that no soldier gets involved in the affairs of civilians. In other words, the normal affairs of this life are no longer the baggage we carry around. We are warriors and we only carry what is necessary for the fight. Let's enter into worship today recognizing all that God has done for us, ascribing to him the glory due his name, and allow him to take the baggage from us so we can be refreshed for the battle.