Psalm 89:5-8 "And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. (6) For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? (7) God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. (8) O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?"
"The heavens shall praise the Lord." Think about that. We stand in
awe when we go out at night and look up at the stars. Every morning, we know
the sun rises in the East and sets that evening in the West. The time of
sunrise on any given day can be established months (if not years) in
advance. The birds sing praises at the top of their voices. The seasons
remain, and always will remain, at a constant. Yes, there may be variations as
some winters are colder than others and some summers are hotter than others.
Yet the truth of God's Word tells us that as long as the earth remains, there
will be the four seasons of the year. Scientists cannot change nor determine
anything different from God's Word. "While the earth remaineth, seedtime
and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall
not cease." (Genesis 8:22) Why is this true? Why is this true? God
is faithful to His creation and the creation of God is faithful unto Him and
unto that for which it was created. Bear with me, I'm going somewhere with this
thought.
The Lord is the Creator and Sustainer of all the earth. "For who in
the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can
be likened unto the LORD?" There is none in heaven nor on the earth
that can be compared to our Lord. There are none who can begin to be compared
to the Almighty God. There are none that has power, wisdom, might, and ability
to sustain or direct that which we call nature. We cannot even command our own
lives, though we like to think we are in control. There is only One of whom it
can be said He is 100% faithful in all that He does. "And the heavens
shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of
the saints."
So where does that leave us? What is our responsibility as we observe the
wonderful works of God that are all around us. Where does that leave us as we
are brought to the realization that we are the "handiwork" (Ephesians
2:10) of the Lord. If God is faithful to ALL His works and if that which we
call nature is faithful to all His works, how should we be in our devotions
unto the Lord? We are given the answer by God, Himself. "God is greatly to
be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them
that are about him." Again, I remind us the word, fear, carries the
meaning of holding God, and His name, in absolute reverence and worshipful
adoration. When we gather together in the assembly of worship, only God
through Jesus Christ is to be the focus of our attention. Think about these
things. I won't get completely on a soapbox, but sometimes it seems the lights
and show become the focus instead of the One Who saved us from our sins. Only
Jesus.
I close with the conclusion of the events that took place on the Mountain of
Transfiguration. "And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man,
SAVE JESUS ONLY (emphasis mine)." (Matthew 17:8) When we assemble
ourselves, there should be one, and only one, that holds our attention. Who
could that possibly be?