Holy is the Lord God Almighty, The Earth is filled with His glory!

“Holy is the Lord” is yet another song from Chris Tomlin that has ministered to millions of Christians worldwide and been sung in thousands of churches.

The basis of this song comes from the 8th chapter of Nehemiah after the wall of Jerusalem had been rebuilt when the people assembled for the first time to hear Ezra the priest read the Word of God.

Ezra opened the book in full view of everyone, because he was above them. As he opened it, all the people stood up. Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people held up their hands and said, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
(NCV Nehemiah 8:5-6)

While he was reading the Word to the people they started crying and mourning. The bible doesn’t say exactly why they started weeping but I think it was because they realized how far they had fallen away from God’s law and their tears were tears of repentance. Then Nehemiah and Ezra and the Levites started encouraging the people and telling them not to cry because “the joy of the Lord is our strength.”

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy good food and sweet drinks. Send some to people who have none, because today is a holy day to the Lord…”Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send some of their food to others, and to celebrate with great joy. They finally understood what they had been taught.
(NCV Nehemiah 8:10,12)

In other words, Nehemiah and the people celebrated the goodness of God with a party! When is the last time you had a party just to celebrate God’s goodness? Could you have one now? If you have repented of your sin and accepted Christ’s sacrifice on your behalf then you are washed clean of your sin and you have the greatest reason ever to celebrate the goodness of our God!

Take a few minutes to worship the Lord and let “the anthem of the Lord’s renown” rise up in your spirit. Then take the joy of the Lord with you as you go about your day today.

Lyrics:

We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He

And together we sing
Everyone sing

Chorus:
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory

We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He

And together we sing
Everyone sing

Chorus

It’s rising up all around
It’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown
It’s rising up all around
It’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown
It’s rising up all around
It’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown

And together we sing,
everyone sing

Chorus

Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory

 

© 2003 worshiptogether.com songs

Here I Am To Worship. Here I Am To Bow Down

Here I Am To Worship, here I am to bow down to the One who loved me so much that He gave up everything to be with me.

I doubt if anyone reading this is old enough to remember the 1930s and the abdication of Prince Edward of England to marry Wallis Simpson, an American woman he had fallen in love with. Prince Edward showed extravagant love by giving up the throne of England and all of the riches and rights that go along with that throne to be with the woman he loved.

That type of love and that kind of sacrifice is something few of us know but all of us benefit from. We benefit from the love Christ had for us in coming to this earth to take our own punishment upon himself. The Light of the World stepped down into darkness and opened our eyes to let us see how much he loved us all. As the lyrics of the song put it:

King of all days
Oh, so highly exalted
Glorious in Heaven above
Humbly You came
To the earth You created
All for love’s sake became poor

And the Bible says:

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know that Christ was rich, but for you he became poor so that by his becoming poor you might become rich.
2 Co 8:9 (NCV)

One of the definitions Webster’s Dictionary gives for “Worship” is “to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion.” I think this is a great definition. Christ showed us extravagant love, I want to show him extravagant devotion.

Father God, open my eyes today to see your extravagant love for me. Help me to be extravagantly devoted to you!

Lyrics:

Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You

Chorus:
Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You’re my God
You’re altogether lovely
Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me

King of all days
oh, so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came
To the earth You created
All for love’s sake became poor

Chorus (2X)

I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross (3X)

Chorus (Repeating)

 

© 2000 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere, oh God!

“Better is One Day” is one of those songs who’s lyrics are taken almost directly from a verse or chapter of the Bible. In this case Matt Redman used the 84th psalm for his inspiration.

This psalm was written by the sons of Korah who served as gatekeepers in the temple. (I Chron 9:17-19) These “Korahites” were the great-grandsons of the Korah who rebelled against God and Moses in the wilderness and started a destructive earthquake and a plague of death. (Numbers chapter 16)

They knew the joys of serving the Lord and living daily in the presence of the Lord. And they also knew the pain of rebelling against the Lord because of the destruction caused by their great-grandfather’s rebellion. In this psalm they testify of the joy of serving the Lord and how they would rather live for only one day serving the lord as lowly door keepers in the temple than live for a thousand days anywhere else.

In those days the Holy Spirit did not live in people like He does today. So in order to enjoy the presence of the Lord they had to go to the temple in Jerusalem. Today we can enjoy fellowship with God anytime and anywhere because He dwells in us who believe in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus.

The Holy Spirit dwells in us and wants to live through us and be strong in us but He will never take over against our wills. The question is, are you dwelling in the courts of the Lord through continual Praise and Worship and Thanksgiving to Him or are you living in your own little world day after day?

The Korahites knew it is better to live one day in the presence of the Lord than to live for a thousand days apart from His presence as the chorus of the song says:

Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere!

You are the temple of the Lord and you can take the presence of the Lord with you throughout your day!

I invite you to practice the presence of the Lord today. Carry Him with you. Enter His gates with thanksgiving in your heart and enter His courts with praise. Make sacrifices of praise (praise Him even when you don’t feel like it) throughout your day today and He will satisfy your heart within His presence.

Lyrics:

How lovely is Your dwelling place
Oh, Lord Almighty
For my soul longs and even faints for You
For here my heart is satisfied
Within Your presence
I sing beneath the shadow of Your wings

Chorus:
Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere

One thing I ask and I would seek
To see Your beauty
To find You in the place Your glory dwells

Chorus

My heart and flesh cry out
For You, the living God
Your Spirit’s water for my soul
(My thirsty soul)
I’ve tasted and I’ve seen
Come once again to me
I will draw near to You
I will draw near to You

Better is one day,
better is one day,
better is one day
Than thousands elsewhere

 

© 1995 Kingsway’s Thankyou Music

Lord, Jesus, Be Lifted Up As We Bow Down.

"Be lifted up" is a phrase we hear a lot in Christian circles but what does it really mean for us to lift Him up?

The term comes from the book of Exodus when Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness.

Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient along the way, and they began to murmur against God and Moses. "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?" they complained. "There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this wretched manna!"
So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among them, and many of them were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, "We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes." So Moses prayed for the people.

Then the Lord told him, "Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to the top of a pole. Those who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!" So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to the top of a pole. Whenever those who were bitten looked at the bronze snake, they recovered!
Num 21:4-9 (NLT)

If an Israelite had been bitten by a serpent they would die from the poisonous bite unless they were able to look at or "see" the bronze snake "lifted up". We need to understand here that in the Bible the serpent was the first thing God ever cursed. So the serpent symbolizes cursedness, and being bitten by a serpent meant you were under a curse.

All of this sets the stage for what Christ did for us:

Christ took away the curse the law put on us. He changed places with us and put himself under that curse. It is written in the Scriptures, "Anyone whose body is displayed on a tree is cursed."
Gal 3:13 (NCV)

"As we bow down we lift you up" should not just be the posture of our bodies in worship, it is to be the attitude of our hearts in life. In our lives we are called to become less [to bow down] so that He will become more [be lifted up] so others can see Him lifted up in us and they too can live.

Father God, help me become less today so that Christ would become more in me. Let others see the Savior lifted up in me that they might live.

Lyrics:

Be lifted up, be lifted up
As we bow down, be lifted up
Be lifted up, be lifted up
As we bow down, be lifted up

Chorus:
Let the heavens rejoice, let the nations be glad
Let the whole earth tremble, for you are God
Come and worship the Lord, in the beauty of holiness

Bridge
As we bow down, be lifted up
As we bow down, be lifted up

Chorus

 

© 2001 Thankyou Music

Shout To The Lord, All the Earth!

“Shout to the Lord” by Darlene Zschech is one of my favorite contemporary Praise and Worship songs. My favorite line is “Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of your Name!” I love the idea of God’s creation worshiping Him along with us.

The theme of the song is found in the 98th Psalm which the New King James Version labels as “A Song of Praise to the Lord For His Salvation and Judgment”

PSALM 98

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.

The Lord has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Sing to the Lord with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn;

Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;

Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.
Ps 98 (NKJV)

Even creation awaits the day when the Lord will return to judge the world.

For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse. All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
Rom 8:19-23 (NLT)

As the lyrics of Shout to the Lord state: “Nothing compares to the promise I have in You!”

Father God, thank you for the promises we have in You! Thank you that your right hand and holy arm have gained the victory and that one day we will be revealed as your children. Help us wait anxiously and patiently for that day while singing praises to your power and majesty!

Lyrics:

My Jesus, My Savior
Lord, there is none like You
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My Comfort, My Shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You!

Chorus:
Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing.
Power and majesty, praise to the King.
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name!
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands
Forever I’ll love you, forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have in you!

My Jesus, My Savior
Lord there is none like You
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My Comfort, My Shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, and all that I am
Let it never cease to worship You!

Chorus

Let the earth sing!
I’ll declare your great name!
All of my life I will.
With every breath I will praise you!
Lift it up, lift it up!

Chorus

Nothing compares to you
I shout your praise
Nothing compares to you
Oh, nothing compares to the promise I have in you!

 

© 1993 Hillsong Publishing

How deep the Father’s love for us,
how vast beyond all measure!

“How Deep The Father’s Love For Us” by Stuart Townend is an incredibly powerful presentation of the gospel (the good news) that Christ died for us with our guilt and sin “upon His shoulders”.

Every verse of this song speaks volumes about God’s work on the cross to bring us to Himself in spite of our sinful condition “that He would give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure”

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”
Rom 5:8 (NKJV)

Spend a few minutes just reading through the words of the song and let its power and truths penetrate your heart. Reflect on God’s love. That he reached out to the mockers and scoffers and sinners to bring us into His Glory.

Carry this with you today:

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom!

Lyrics:

How deep the fathers love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give his only son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon the cross
My sin upon His shoulder
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out amoung the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts no power no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

 

© 1995 Kingsway’s Thankyou Music