Give God the worship He is due
Gracious and holy Father,
Please give me intellect to understand you, reason to discern you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, a spirit to know you, a heart to meditate upon you, ears to hear you, eyes to see you, a tongue to proclaim you, a way of life pleasing to you, patience to wait for you, and perseverance to look for you. Grant me a perfect end, your holy presence, a blessed resurrection, and life everlasting. Amen.
(Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019)
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 NKJV
What does the LORD your God require of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD your God and His decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own good.
Psalm 96:7-8 NKJV
Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come into His courts.
J. Gordon McConville
Moses returned to the basic command of Deuteronomy, to love the Lord with heart and soul (cf. 6:5). To fear the Lord is to give him due worship, recognizing his lordship over all the world. It is a natural accompaniment of love for him, [with emphasis on] obedience to God’s Word . . . Religion, with its practices, is dead unless it comes from the heart.[1]
Warren Wiersbe
Moses makes it clear that the real issue is the heart: if they truly loved God, they would obey His Word. Yes, they should fear God, having seen his miracles and judgments; but this fear should be a loving reverence for the God who chose them above all other nations. God could not bless them if they refused to obey His Word.[2]
Walter Chalmers Smith
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light
Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above,
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
All praise we would render; O help us to see
‘Tis only the splendor of light hideth thee!
John Wesley’s Covenant Renewal Prayer
I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
Be Thou My Vision
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] J. Gordon McConville, “Deuteronomy,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 211.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Dt 10:12–11:32.
