Chapter #10: Gaze upon the Giver
***Hey everyone! Just a quick reminder about the devo book were using and the weekly Worship Thought. My prayer is that it’s NOT just another thing to add to your already busy schedules, but that you can pause for just a moment before you go to bed on Saturday night to engage in this material at whatever level of time you have. So, if you miss a week (or even a few!), only have time to read the cliff notes version here online, or if you just simply read the 3 page devotional from the book, I pray it serves to give our hearts purpose, preparation, and gospel motivation for how we approach the Lord’s Day. (For a quick refresher on WHY and HOW we’re using this resource as a team for this season, click on this previous blog post: “New Resource for 2024”.)
The chapter this week uses Psalm 27 as a way for us to zero in on the Giver himself. This psalm helps us to see that, although we should rejoice in the many benefits we have in Christ, the best gift of all is really Giver himself! His presence is celebrated as the pinnacle of what the worshiper is seeking. This is the most beautiful thing his heart could imagine. Just to be able to sit with him and inquire of him is a precious gift. His presence is also a protection in the face of harm and a delight in the face of sorrow for the worship.
This week, I want to encourage us to pray through this Psalm as a way to prepare our hearts to stand in the gathering with a hunger and a neediness for HIM! This Sunday, lets pray that we could truly be present in our thoughts with him for those moments and lay the troubles of our hearts before him. Let’s desire to inquire of him as we seek understanding of our lives and circumstances. Let’s listen to his gracious voice as the Word is preached, sung, and portrayed in the Lord’s Supper because these practices help nourish us in our faith. Let’s simply delight in his presence and gaze on his beauty together as the body of Christ! Let’s anticipate Sunday because we, the very body of Christ, are seeking after HIM alone! When we do this, we will find that there is “no room for my heart to be captured and controlled by the love of something or someone else” (p. 53). We’ll be progressively more captured and controlled by the beauty of Jesus as we cherish his presence with us.
One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to inquire in his temple.For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.And now my head shall be lifted up\
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD.Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
(Psalm 27:4–8)
Our Green Room Prayer
-Why the Green Room Prayer?
1) We need to be reminded as a team of our neediness for God to do his work in us and through us (not in our strength or talents).
2) We also want to pray in focused unity together for the things that God already wants us to experience in worship each week, not simply what we think we want (let the service go well or help us not to mess up).
Give us eyes to gaze on the beauty of you, the Giver. Give us ears to hear your voice speaking through the noise and busyness. Give us hearts to treasure your presence with us. Give us your love for those around us. Fill us with a growing desire and delight in you alone as we gather here in worship together today. Amen
