(guest post by Bob Kauflin)
“Great is the LORD,” David reminds us, “and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).
David shows the appropriate starting point for worship. It involves thinking about, magnifying, and responding to the glory and splendor of God. Magnifying and cherishing his greatness is at the heart of biblical worship. As J.I. Packer reminds us:
Today, vast stress is laid on the thought that God is personal, but this truth is so stated as to leave the impression that God is a person of the same sort as we are–weak, inadequate, ineffective, a little pathetic. But this is not the God of the Bible! Our personal life is a finite thing: it is limited in every direction, in space, in time, in knowledge, in power. But God is not so limited. He is eternal, infinite, and almighty. He has us in his hands; we never have him in ours. Like us he is personal; but unlike us, he is great.
David invites God’s worshipers in Psalm 34:3 to “magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!” The first priority of our gatherings is to magnify the Lord. Our frail minds need to be reminded that God is bigger than our problems and joys, greater than our sorrows and successes, and more significant than our tests and triumphs. Our great, weekly privilege is to come together to help one another see, through eyes of faith, how great God has actually revealed himself to be.
This same invitation is made to you. Would you come this Saturday, January 28th to magnify the greatness of God together with other brothers and sisters in Orange County? As our friend and organizer of this event, Eric Turbedsky would say: “It’s an 8-hour investment into a lifetime of Sunday mornings.” We look forward to seeing you there.
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Want to learn more about why we sing to magnify the Greatness of God? Join us for The Gathering Conference, January 28th in Huntington Beach, CA. Hosted by Sovereign Grace Church with Bob Kauflin, Enfield, and in partnership with Sovereign Grace Music.
This article was adapted by Dustin Smetona from pg. 61-62 of Bob Kauflin’s book, Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God.
