Dear Church Family,
I watch the kids get on and off the bus clinging to their phones. I see people taking their dogs into pet stores and letting their dog pick its food. I see people cruising their exotic sports cars on Friday nights.
Perhaps questions to ponder are… What do you value? To what extent? Ryan Cook encourages us to think about Psalm 135 and ask if we are worshiping something besides God? He says…
The worship of idols was an important part of life for Israel’s neighbors. Skilled craftsmen created idols from the finest materials available. Priests would perform elaborate ceremonies to endow the idol with the presence of the god. The idol would then be treated as royalty. The object would be clothed and “fed” with the best, treated with awe and reverence.
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. PSALM 135:3 This reading is a rousing praise psalm to remind Israel that the Lord is greater than the gods of the nations. It was also a stern reminder to Israel that worshiping idols was foolish. These idols were “silver and gold, made by human hands” (v. 15). They had mouths, eyes and ears that did not work (vv. 16 18). These gods could never save or deliver like the Lord. The psalm reminds Israel that the Lord is the One who delivered them from Egypt and brought them into the land of Canaan (vv. 8–12).
Living in the twenty-first century, it is easy to think we are immune to the danger of worshiping idols. But an idol is anything in which we place our allegiance, trust, or hope instead of God. An idol could be our reliance on social media for affirmation or the hope we entrust to politicians. There are hundreds of ways we can fall into the trap of idol worship. An added danger is that we become similar to what we worship (v. 18).
The good news is that if we worship God, we will grow to become like Him. As Paul explained, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (2 Cor. 3:18).
One of the benefits of praise is that it reminds us who God is. God loves and cares for us more than our cell phone, pet, or fun toy that is the envy of others and puts us at the center of attention. God’s love for us is deserving of all of our praise. Whatever you enjoy in life… give all the glory to God.
Steve
When our mom came to live with us in the last days of her life it was
after her house had been without power for over four hours. She was alone
in the dark. She called my brother and asked him to bring her to our house
as he was close but also without power. She was with us for 11 months before she became ill and was hospitalized. During that time I asked her what she needed from the house. She never went back. We got her some simple things but she said, “Honey, it’s just stuff. I really don’t need any of that stuff. You guys just do what you want with it.” This reminded me of that. God is all we need. Not all that stuff. Thanks Steve for the reminder.