Key Idea: Nothing Surpasses God’s Essence or Being. There is nothing more deserving of praise and adoration.

Lead the congregation in a pastoral prayer and read the text

Psalm 8 LSB

For the choir director. According to the Gittith. A Psalm of David. O Yahweh, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who displays Your splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have established; What is man that You remember him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the animals of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O Yahweh, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

What Song Fills Your Heart as You Think of God?

Life is all about God’s Praise.

A Hymn of David, Psalm 8 is closely aligned with Psalms 2,7, 81, and 84.

The Focus and use of the text is a hymn of adoration.

The beginning point of adoration is an awareness of who God is and who we are.

Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.

John Calvin (French Reformer)God’s Rule Gives Us Reason to Rejoice.

When we think of God, does He look, sound, and think like us? Or are we overtaken by the total otherness of God in comparison to us?

Humanity is Meant to Reflect God’s Glory.

David ponders the wonder of being favored by God and speaks of the common grace available to all humanity.

The Presence of God’s power is the splendor of His strength, the Display of His eternal majesty and will.

David, the Israelites, and ourselves are the beneficiaries of God’s outpouring of His glory.

In short, the significance of the imago Dei is the moral likeness of human beings to their Creator and the covenantal commission with which Adam was entrusted; namely, to enter God’s everlasting Sabbath with the whole creation in his train.

Michael Horton

Hear the words found in Ephesians 2:8-10

Ephesians 2:8–10 LSB

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Do I perceive my life as a masterpiece that honors the creator? Do I see God using me to magnify Himself?

Our Lives are a Full Cycle in Praise.

The sum of humanity is called to and intended to praise God’s name and worship Him alone.

The Church Universal is commanded to do this as often as the local church meets.

The total sum of God calling all men to surrender in worship to Him is accomplished in His only begotten Son—Jesus Christ.

Calling on Yhwh by name is a gesture of gratefulness for what Yhwh has done and of trust for what Yhwh will complete.

John Goldingay

Hear the words from Colossians 1:15-19

Colossians 1:15–19 (LSB)

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

And He is before all things,

And in Him all things hold together.

And He is the head of the body, the church;

Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

As we turn to the One who is worthy of worship and praise, do we prostrate ourselves in awe of Him, or do we carry on with business as usual?

Are you living under your own authority?—Repent of Your Sins; Confess Jesus Christ as the Risen Lord; Follow Him.

Are you rebelling against His call on your life to obedience by faith alone? Return; Be made whole.

Are you seeking a family that will encourage you to grow as a disciple? Join this church family and fulfill the “one another’s.”

The Substance of a Life Song