How Great Thou Art

How great Thou art! 12-13-20 Beginning Scripture: Psalm 8:1 “Lord our Master, how majestic Your name in all the earth! Whose splendor was told over the heavens.” The Hebrew Bible God be with you There was a time in my jagged journey to Jesus that I saw God as a force in the universe but didn’t want to refer to that force as a person, as “he” or “him” – sort of in line with the Star Wars refrain, “May the force be with you.” It was a secular vision and mindset. But now I read and hear sung so very often, that sentence, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” There are many names given to God in the Bible to indicate his character, action, and blessings. And these are the names of a person! When I was baptized and reborn I declared the surrender of my life to Jesus Christ, my personal Savior. And this strong emotional attachment is VERY personal to me. God is not some inanimate impersonal power, but a person with whom I speak, who speaks to me in very intimate language in prayer and in the Bible. I am not in love with some force in the universe out there. I am in love with this Tremendous Lover who calls me by name and with whom I am on intimate speaking terms. Truly knowing God I was reading our Sunday School lesson that says: for those who truly know God, his greatness is turned toward their benefit. It took me some reflection to figure out what those words meant. If I don’t know God in the first place, then how can I know his greatness. But I had to look at this on a human level to really get it. So I thought of the close relationships I have. In the case of my wife, our relationship is so close we have pet names for each other. My name for her indicates that I know her well and that she trusts that name is only for her. I call nobody else by that name. It is so personal and unique to our relationship, I wouldn’t even tell you what it is. And so it is that God knows each of our names and every hair on our heads. How to know greatness I have a very good and close buddy whom I have known for more than four decades. He and his wife moved to College Station, Texas a few years ago. And in a recent email I told him I lamented the restrictions of COVID and how much I missed him due to our inability to get together for our periodic meals at Sam’s Buffet on I-45 in Fairfield. I will quote from that email: “[I miss] those little human celebrations of our friendship and brotherhood. I miss our hugs and our tears and your laughter and looking at the expression on your face when you tell a story or even when you are sad.” I know my buddy’s stories of working in the oil fields as a young man, and having to drive with his mom as a child to go into the bars to get his drunk daddy. I’ve seen his tears of affection telling stories of his family, good salt of the earth working people, and how precious they are to him. I can speak of my friend’s tender heart, his great sense of humor, his keen intellect and appreciation for good books. I can tell you of his great story-telling ability, his intense love and appreciation for country western music, especially Bob Wills. He is a truly great friend and I think – a great man. To know God I tell you about my friend to illustrate some things about how important it is to really know God. I must have an individualized, extensive, multidimensional relationship with someone if I am to describe his or her greatness adequately and convincingly. On the other hand I have “mis-judged” people when my knowledge of them was superficial and incomplete. And later, as I got to know the person more fully, I realized how wrong I was with my early opinions. And I was at a disadvantage because I could not profit from his or her inner beauty. I couldn’t feel the joy, surprise, and delight I might have, if I had known them at a deeper level. Studying Scripture and our Sunday School booklet and preparing these devotionals has been good for me spiritually and personally, and for my relationship with God and with you. This study has given me a map to joy, something to live for, something to die for. It has been a wonderful privilege. But, as our Sunday School lesson says, as Psalm 8 and the others sing about, getting to know God and enjoying his glory is not for a select few. It is available to everyone who looks up at the stars at night, anyone who views natural beauty such as the Grand Canyon, listens to inspired music, or sees the sparkle and joy in an infant’s eyes. It is true: there is no place in this world or universe where you can go to get away from God (Psalm 139: 7-9). My conclusion is: to know God’s glory we must have a relationship with him. And relationships are based on interaction. I can’t have a relationship with someone with whom I do not communicate. God communicates with us through the Scripture, and in his unfolding universe. It is up to us to notice him in all the small corners of our lives and in the larger spaces where he hides in plain sight. It is up to us to speak to him of our love, our problems, our hopes as well as our most noble and our darkest desires. Questions and Challenges • • • How have your conversations with God and your Bible study increased your sense of who God is and his greatness? How do you communicate to others your knowledge and appreciation for God and your relationship with him? Describe similarities or parallels between the relationships you have with God and the close relationships you have with friends, family and others. Prayer Father, how great thou art! We marvel at your glory in the starry night, and at the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love you have for us and your universe. Father, help us to see the importance of making effort, of finding the time and energy to get to know you better, to increase the intimacy we have with you. We thank you for giving us your Son to show us what true love is, what it means to be human, and what it means to be Love itself. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our precious Savior. Amen.