The Majesty of God

1 Chronicles 29:11 ~ "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all."
​Let us exalt the LORD.

Many church structures are built with the concept of pleasing the people who would draw in for worship. The seating, the lights, sound acoustics and all manner of other considerations are applied when addressing the idea of building an edifice for the church. Questions like: "What are the sight lines" or "how many can it comfortably seat" come into the conversation. But when was the last time a structure was built not with the crowd in mind, but with the LORD in mind? When was the majesty of the LORD the first consideration?

As we consider our text today, we come face-to-face with David collecting the materials for the construction of the Temple for the LORD. Solomon, David's son, would be the one to build the Temple, but it was David who began the project by gathering the resources that would eventually be needed. And those resources were given with joy. The people gladly, even joyfully gave to the project. We see this in 1 Chronicles 29:9, "Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly." The first thing, the highest consideration of the people and of David, was the exaltation of God. And that, dear ones, must be the first and highest consideration of our lives as well. 

As we look to the text, we discover a wide swath of glorious truths concerning our LORD and Savior. For today, let us break them down into three categories. 

We first come face-to-face with the very exaltation of God. There are five words of acclamation listed here: greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty. Each of these deserves its own thought, but we will for today consider them all at once. These words describe not a weak and feeble God, nor a God who is distant and aloof. We do not see the LORD except that we find Him in all His splendor. He is power itself. There is none equal to the LORD. Though David might have slain his ten-thousands, the LORD rules them all. His is the victory--for the LORD in undefeatable. Is this how you draw near to the LORD in worship? Is this how you know the Savior who is God and King over all? Yes, He will receive the humble and contrite, for it is the humble who will lift up their praise in honor of the One who is the true and only God.

Second, we discover God through His creation. As our text reveals, God alone has true ownership of all that is, for He is the Creator of it all. All that is in the heavens is His. The stars, sun, moon and all that drifts through this universe was formed at the command of the LORD and is sustained by His power. But for a moment let the LORD lapse in consideration of all He has created and the creation itself will cease to be. And, the earth is His as well--and all that have or had or will ever dwell upon this globe belongs to the One who made all things. Psalm 95:6 proclaims, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!" He is the Maker of the atheist as well as the Christian. And eventually all will bow before the One who established the heavens and the earth.

And third, we see the LORD Almighty in His coronation. Here is David, king of Israel. It was through David that the borders of the people of God were expanded, that the surrounding enemies were subdued and that peace had been hard-fought and won through the king's many victories. And yet, here we see David the king recognizes and worships the Sovereign King of kings. David took no ownership of the nation, but declared, "Yours is the kingdom." Not only does the kingdom--even all kingdoms--belong to Christ, but He is ruler and head over them all. Consider Colossians 1:18, "And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent."

This, beloved, is the Majesty of God. He is worthy of all worship. As David collected the needed items and treasure to build the temple, and all the people gave with great joy, let us do the same with the life God has granted unto us.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

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