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Glorify God

A while back I had read Ezekiel 20 in my time alone with God and God spoke to me about it being all about Him! It is about His glory or as it is expressed there for the sake of His name.

Ezekiel 20:8,9 “`But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt. ⁹ But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations they lived among and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites by bringing them out of Egypt.”

Ezekiel 20:13,14 “`Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the desert. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws--although the man who obeys them will live by them--and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the desert. ¹⁴ But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.”

Ezekiel 20:44 “You will know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD”

Then a few weeks later we had a sermon on the glory of God at church. I was reminded that the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps 19:1) and that this universe is way too big for us humans. It was created for the glory of God. I was reminded that we are to do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). When we came home Jeanette went out to weed the grass of bindies. Later that night we discussed what it meant to weed the grass of bindies to the glory of God. Whilst we aren’t completely sure we came to the conclusion that attitude is key – doing it cheerfully, to the best of her ability, thanking God that she is able to do it (and not invalidly or sick) and yet longing for heaven where there will be no weeds just perfection.

Soon after I was counselling a friend with relational difficulties and as I referred to the Peace Maker book Ken Sande’s first principle is to glorify God. His opening question when in relational conflict is “How can I please and honour God in the midst of this conflict?” That will often take some doing, but we are to do everything for the glory of God. Are you?

Lesson from King David

I have been reading through 1 and 2 Samuel as part of my time with God and have been struck afresh by how far David was from perfection. I often think about David being the forerunner to Jesus as the king and how all (well nearly all) the other kings of Israel and Judah were so terrible. In the New Testament David is described as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). I have this impression of David as a great upright and holy man. But now as I read of David’s imperfections – his deception by pretending to be mad after fleeing to the king of Gath (1 Sam 21), his rage and intent to kill all the males of Nabal’s house leading 400 of his warriors out to do this and only being stopped by the Lord through Abigail (1 Sam 25), his flight to the Philistines and his deceit in telling the King of Achish that he had been raiding the Negeb of Judah or the Jerahmeekites or the Kenites when he had been raiding the Geshurites, Girzities and Amalekites and killing every last man and woman so as not to be found out (1 Sam 27), his weakness in not punishing Joab appropriately for murdering Abner (2 Sam 3) and I am not yet up to Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah her husband (2 Sam 11) nor his weakness in failing to discipline his son Amnon appropriately for raping Tamar (2 Sam 13) which lead to his other son Absalom’s murder of Amnon and David’s failure to deal with that and the rebellion and … what a mess! (2 Sam 13-15).

And this is great David, who today I read that God will establish his house forever, whose “throne will be established forever”! (2 Sam 7:16). Wow! God uses a person like this! A person who blew it in so many ways. A person who had all sorts of insecurities and weaknesses. But a person who was a man after God’s own heart. A man who repented of his sins, whose repentance of his sin with Bathsheba is so movingly recorded in Ps 51. And a man whose response to the grace of God shows his humility – “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? … Because of your promise, and according to your own heart you have brought about this greatness” (2 Sam 7:18,21).

I was struck again that God can, and does, use flawed people. People like me … and you. We need to repent of our sins and to respond to God’s grace in choosing us and using even us to further His kingdom with a similar attitude to David – who am I Lord that you have saved me according to your promise, that you have brought me thus far, that you are using me in the Navigators to further your kingdom?