Preparing for Worship – Darren DeMent, associate pastor.
Our worship service this morning opens with a grand hymn of praise to God. Based on 1 Timothy 1:17, the hymn writer, Walter C. Smith, pens a strong text of praise by highlighting images of God’s glory and strength. Consider some of the words and phrases he uses: Immortal. Wise. Almighty. Victorious. Might. Great father of glory.
In fact, he presents the Glory of God as something so overwhelming, so bright and magnificent, that we may be blinded by it or even blind to it.
Juxtapose that image of God with the image presented in Psalm 139. Here the psalmist describes a God who knows us personally and intimately. A God who, in spite of their majesty and splendor, knows every last detail about us. We go from a God so glorious that we may be blinded by their presence to a God that we can’t get away from even if we try.
Finally, we close our worship this morning with a testimonial to the saving power of God’s love. A love that will seek us out. A love that will respond to our cries for help. A love that lifts us out of whatever peril may beset us.
Put all of that together and we have a beautiful reminder that the God who created the universe and is vast beyond comprehension is the same God that created us individually and uniquely and loves us beyond comprehension. These are not two separate Gods, but one who can seem both impossibly big and impossibly personal at the same time.
Both of these things are true. I don’t claim to fully understand how this can be, but I am happy to join together with others who likely don’t fully get it either and testify to that truth.