Monday, September 4, 2017
Inasmuch as God’s purpose was to create
man in His own image and make him fit to live forever with Him, it should not
be surprising that man’s purpose is to glorify His Creator. And so it is.
There are countless reasons why man, and
nations, should glorify God. It can
ultimately be summarized as adoration, submissiveness, and obedience. God is the Creator; therefore, the created
should be submissive and obedient to Him.
The Hebrew word predominately used for
‘glorify’ is Kavedh which has several
synonyms including honored, praised, and esteemed.
While David was pondering the excellencies
of God he penned the following:
“All
nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall
glorify Your name. For You are great,
and do wondrous things; You alone are God…I will praise You, O Lord my God,
with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forevermore.” Psalm 86:9-10,
12
David, perhaps unknowingly, was speaking
of the future millennial kingdom. He
noted that God had made (fashioned) all the nations who would in the future,
journey to Jerusalem
and worship Him. Such would reflect
submission and respect by the nations, thus bringing glory to God.
David and his offspring would glorify the
name of almighty God forever.
David also spoke of the future Messiah’s
command for all Israel
to glorify God.
“I will
declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise
You. You who fear the LORD, praise
Him! All you descendants of Jacob,
glorify Him, and fear Him, all you offspring (seed) of Israel.”
Psalm 22:22-23
Israel (Jacob) was God’s chosen
nation. The Messiah said that He would
declare His Father’s name to the brethren.
Interestingly Jesus didn’t refer to His followers as brothers until
after He was resurrected. He instructed
the Israelites to praise, glorify, and fear His Father.
Thus praise and glorify in the above
passage are synonymous, while ‘fear’ means to revere or hold in awe.
In another Psalm, as God expounds on His
sovereignty to Israel,
He states another reason to glorify Him.
“Call upon
Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Psalm 50:15
God promised the Israelites that when they
found themselves in distress or tribulation, He would rescue them. Their response was to glorify their
deliverer.
The prophets also spoke of glorifying God
for numerous reasons.
“O LORD,
You are my God. I will exalt You, I will
praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are
faithfulness and truth…Therefore the strong people will glorify You; the city
of the terrible nations will fear You.
For You have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his
distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat…” Isaiah 25:1,
3-4
Both God’s people and their enemies would
honor and glorify God for His wondrous works and befriending those in need.
Perhaps most significantly; however, was
that God would be glorified by His redemption of Israel.
“Sing, O
heavens, for the LORD has done it!
Shout, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you
mountains, O forest, and every tree in it!
For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel.”
Isaiah 44:23
The whole earth and all its inhabitants
would witness God’s redemption of His chosen nation.
Then the coming Messiah would be from the
descendant of Jacob (Israel)
and bring the offer of salvation to all nations on the earth.
“…You
are My servant, O Israel,
in whom I will be glorified…‘It is too small a thing that You should be My
Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob… I will also give You as a light to the
Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’” Isaiah 49:3, 6
Thus God’s glory of Israel would
spread to all nations.
God is also glorified by His righteous judgment on Israel’s
enemies.
“Behold, I
am against you, O Sidon;
I will be glorified in your midst…when I execute judgments in her and am
hallowed in her.” Ezekiel 28:22
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