–Kenneth Pratt  (Everson Solstice)

       “Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.  Fire goes before Him and burns up His foes on every side.  His lighting lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles.”

                         –Psalm 97:2-4 (HCSB)
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                    “Majesty, worship His majesty,
                    Unto Jesus be all glory, honor, and praise.
                    Majesty, kingdom authority,
                    Flows from His throne unto His own, His anthem raise….”
                              –Jack Hayford

Majesty is always a declaration of God’s greatness and is an invitation to worship!  It is more than a title or a position of authority.  It is acknowledging the Creator, the One who is above all and cannot be compared to anyone or anything.  “The LORD reigns, He is robed in majesty…” (Psalm 93:1-2)  “They will speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty…” (Psalm 145:5).  Peter writes, “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” (2 Peter 1:16).  
     God is great!  But what does that mean?  We cannot describe God physically for no one has seen Him.  We cannot know Him but in an incomplete way, for He is incomprehensible.  When you pray, do you think of God in all of His majesty?  Very little is preached today about the “fear of God.”  And if so, it is watered down to mean only to be in awe of Him.  But, let me tell you, it is much more than that!  “Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise.” (Psalm 48:1).
     Today we tend to make God more personal, and that is true.  He is a personal God, but don’t put Him on the same plane as man or use the same standard to see God as a man.  He is not finite!  He is so much more–the entire universe cannot contain Him.  Packer says that “the Bible never lets us lose sight of His majesty and His unlimited dominion over all His creatures.”
     Yes, we must not forget that God is personal.  He deals with us as individuals, He speaks with us, He grieves over us, but in that do not forget that He is majestic.  He gives us terms, analogies, and describes Himself in anthropomorphic terms so that we can better understand and come to a better knowledge of Him, but He is far more than that.  He helps us in that way so that we do not think of Him merely as a “force,” or a “cosmic principle,” but that He is a living Person.
     When the term “God” is used in our time it is rarely used in regards to divine majesty.  He should not be put into the same context of other relationships.  He is personal, but unlike us, He is great!  He is the Creator, the One who spoke the universe into existence then brought order out of chaos.  He is the One who formed man and breathed into him the breath of life.  We must “remove from our thoughts of God limits that would make Him small.” (J.I. Packer)  We must not “compare Him with powers and forces which we regard as great.” (Packer)  He is much more than that!  
     You can see why the world–mankind–wants to bring us to lesser thoughts of God.  The world, if it has thoughts of God, put Him on the same level with man, and perhaps a little lower.  He is either a weak God, or He does not exist at all.  To have lesser thoughts of God would keep our faith small.  It could bring doubts as to His mighty character.  Small thoughts of God, not properly recognizing His majesty, brings Him down to a level where man could compare Him with other gods, or with man himself.  J.I. Packer said, “A God whose presence and scrutiny I could evade would be a small and trivial deity.  But the true God is great and terrible, just because he is always with me and his eyes are always upon me.  Living becomes an awesome business when you realize that you spend every moment of your life in the sight and company of an omniscient, omnipresent Creator.”  In Job we see Him recognized “with God is terrible majesty.” (Job 37:22 KJV)
     So in your thoughts of God, your singing, your praising, and your worship, do not make Him less than He is.  Knowing that He is incomprehensible should be an aid to our worship.  Do not lose sight of His personalness, but also do not bring Him low and remove the notion that He is an awesome God.  Recognize Him for who He is in all of His splendor, majesty, and glory.  Tremble in His presence, but rest in the knowledge that He is also your heavenly Father.  “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor; for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.”  (1 Chronicles 29:11, NIV)  I leave you today with the words from a sermon by one of the masters of sermon articulation:  S. M. Lockeredge.

               “He’s the one who made us,
               It is He who made us and not we ourselves.
               The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.
               No means of measure can define His limitless love,
               No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply.
               No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing.”

In other words friends, He is MAJESTIC!

                    –Zane Grey  (The Call of the Canyon)

       “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

                    –Romans 15:13(HCSB)
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Psalm 117, the shortest Psalm and also the shortest verse in the Bible, yet it contains profound truth.  This psalm issues a universal call that all should praise the Lord. (Lawson)  This little psalm tells us who God is and what He does.

          1 — Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles!  Laud Him, all you peoples!
          2 — For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the LORD endures forever.  Praise the LORD!  (NKJV)

The ESV translates verse 2, “For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.”  The NLT puts it this way, “For he loves us with unfailing love…”.
     Think on that!  Make it personal.  He loves you, and He loves me.  He is faithful to you, and He is faithful to me.  This love and faithfulness is forever, and beyond.  The Lord alone is God, and He only is worthy to be praised.  He loves us as a people, a group, and He loves us individually.  Consider the greatness of His love and that He is faithful in His Word and promises.
     John writes, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God!…”. (1 John 3:1, NKJV)  I like the way the NIV has rendered, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God…”.  He loves us without hesitation.  His love is immediate.  He does not have to look us over to see if we fit the bill.  He does not have to think about us.  (Wood)  In this psalm we see that God has a love for all peoples, but there is a special love for His own people that will never cease.  
     Derek Kidner states, “God’s faithfulness is eternal.  God’s plans and promises are as fresh and intact now as on the day they were made, and they will remain so.”.  God’s faithful love towards His chosen ones will never come to an end.  (Lawson)  George Wood explain that we can rely upon God’s faithfulness:
          1)  To strengthen and protect you from the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3)
          2)  To not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  (1 Corinthians 10:13)
          3)  To remain faithful even when you’re not.  (2 Timothy 2:11-13)
          4)  To forgive you when you sin.  (1 John 1:9)
          5)  To present you blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (1 Corinthians 1:8-9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
“God us love.  God is faithful.  Everything He does tells you who He is.” (Wood)  So when faith begins to waver contemplate this psalm.  When doubts plumet you, meditate upon this psalm.  Then do what the psalmist does in closing.  PRAISE THE LORD!!!

               “Let every kindred, every tribe, on this terrestrial ball,
               To him all majesty ascribe, and crown him Lord of all;
               O that will yonder sacred throng, we at his feet may fall!
               We’ll join the everlasting song, and crown him Lord of all.”
                         –Edward Perronet

                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Key-Lock Man)

       “Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, ‘Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen.'”
                    –Acts 13:16 (NKJV)
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We’ve had plenty of rain–did I say plenty?  Now with that and the sunshine the grass (and weeds) are green and beginning to grow.  We decided when we built a few years back that we wouldn’t plant grass but would let the natural species develop.  It has taken a while, but the grass (and weeds) are finally rooted in.  Grass doesn’t take much good soil, weeds can grow in any.  But try to grow flowers, especially the domestic kind in hard soil, well, there just won’t be much success.
     Jesus tells us a parable in Matthew 13 about the different types of soil and what grows from them.  He describes planting seeds into four types of soil all of which, except one, are capable of producing plants and growth.  Let’s look at one type of soil mentioned by the Master.
     “…Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.” (Matthew 13:3-4, NKJV)  Luke writes it this way, “A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.” (Luke 8:5, NKJV)  Notice the type of soil, which is actually a representation of the human heart.  This first heart is “hard and narrow like a path beaten across a field.  A path is hardened by the traffic of human feet as they cross the field.” (Ray Stedman)  It is hard, being packed down by the many feet that have crossed it.  
    Matthew 13:19, explains this first soil.  These are people who hear the message of the Gospel, of the Kingdom, but they are like the hardened paths and they do not let the truth penetrate.  The word comes, but they do not understand it, in fact, the real issue is that they do not try to understand it.  Stedman says, “This could be called the materialistic heart, one that does not want to be bothered with thinking about anything beyond what you can see, hear, smell, touch, and taste.”  This man heard the message, it fell, but something interrupted its flow to the heart and the man did not take the time to think upon it.  In reality he does not really want to be bothered with it, so he shrugs it off.  (Stedman)  The birds come, snatch it away, and the seed that was offered to him is never recovered.  
     It is interesting to note that the soil represents the different types of people that hear it.  It shows that there is not a uniform response of faith, but that it varied depending upon the soil.  The NIV translates Luke 8:12, thusly, “Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.”  This ground was hard and there was no way for the seed to get in and take root.  It was not prepared and not receptive to the seed (the Word of God).  Barclay writes, “People can become so dull and heavy and blunted in mind that when God’s truth comes to them they cannot see it.  It is not God’s fault.  They have become so mentally lazy, so blinded by prejudice, so unwilling to see anything they do not want to see, that they have become incapable of assimilating God’s truth.”  This is the hard mind, the hard heart–a heart that is shut out to the things of God.  
     The seed was sown, but it never took root because the man did not take the time to let it germinate.  He was too hard, too busy, or too disinterested.  Then the seed is snatched away.  That is a dreadful thought–the seed snatched away never to return.  Oh, friend, when the Lord sows His seed be quick to respond.  There may be a momentary impression, the conviction of the Holy Spirit is there, but, but….  “It is immediately shrugged off as different, awakening the possibility of a world foreign to him.  So he sets it aside, the enemy comes and takes it away, and it is gone.
     Listen, for as Paul said, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2, NKJV)  This is a serious, foreboding message from God’s Word.  The heart is there, the seed is there, what is lacking is the acceptance.  Harbuck writes this of Luke 8:12, “Those [seeds] that fell along the footpath represent those who hear [the Word–Message], but the devil comes and takes away (steals away, snatches away) the Word out of their hearts (minds), so they may not believe and trust Me as their Redeemer and be saved [from their sins].”
     It seems that this may not only be true for individuals, but for nations, people as well.  When you read the Old Testament it is plainly seen that people, as a whole, fall away, hardened their hearts, and refuse to receive the Word of God.  But the Holy Spirit gives warning through the words of Paul in the New Testament as well.  “Go to this people and say: ‘Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive; for the hearts of the people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them.'”  (Acts 28:26-27, NKJV)

                    –Psalm 33:11 (NLT)
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               “Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same,
               All may change, but Jesus never!  Glory to His name….”
                         –A.B. Simpson

Eternal Security?  Absolutely!  God is not going to change His mind about you, or me, or the human race.  What He has declared He will bring to pass.  Somewhere in the eons of the future He is not going to decide that we are not worth it.  No, it is forever settled.  Culture may change around us.  The circumstances may change and with time we will age, but the promises of God are sure and certain.  I like the way that the Amplified translates 1 Samuel 15:29, “Also the Splendor and Glory and Eminence of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”  Not only does it portray His immutability, but also uses adjectives to describe His majesty.  J.I. Packer wrote, “What God does in time, He planned from eternity.  And all that He planned in eternity He carries out in time.”  Hold onto that!  Your and my destiny was designed by God.  You haven’t chosen Him by hapless chance.  In fact, all of humanity has this opportunity.  Jesus came, died for our sins, and all we have to do is accept Him.  God will not change that.  Ah, but you say He did.  He moved from the Old Covenant with the tabernacle, temple and law.  Yes, in a sense, but also this was foretold and in all that is seen in the tabernacle points to Christ.
       For a few moments rest in the fact that He loves you and that love will never change for He does not change.  His character, His qualities, if you will, do not change.  They are continually holy and righteous.  I have taught for the many years that the number one problem we see in the church is that there is not the proper understanding of God.  People make God into what they want Him to be rather than study the Bible to see who He really is.  People speak of a relationship, but they do not take the time to properly develop one.  In fact, they want a relationship based on their desires and opinions.  God is not a “first-aid dispenser” where you put in change, put the knob and out pops a band-aid.  He is not there just when you need Him; He is there all the time.  He is not in a museum where you can go and visit whenever the notion takes you.  He is not a white-haired old man sitting on a throne passing out presents to those are nice and casting into hell those who are naughty.  If you want a relationship, it takes time to develop, and there must be effort.
       Remember that God is perfect in all His attributes and when I speak of attributes I am talking in regard to the essential qualities of His Being.  In the past three weeks we looked briefly at the “omnis”:  omniscient, omnipresence, omnipotence and yesterday we contemplated immutability.  Get this, we can go to God with everything for He is trustworthy and faithful.  His will never varies, what He has said He will do will come to pass.  Do not disregard the great gift of salvation, for surely this is what He has for you.  Don’t think you can go your own way, or do it your own way.  We are completely dependent upon God.  Man will fail, but God never will.  If God varied, even one iota, where would be our confidence, our faith?  Because of His immutability we should have a solid comfort in His Word and promises.  This should encourage us to pray.  However, it should also be a warning to the wicked.  In His promises and warning there is a holy terror.  His will cannot be thwarted.
       As the world around you turns and changes–God never will.  As friends and acquaintances come and go–God is always there.  As hopes and dreams crumble in the things of the world–God’s truth is secure and stable.  Today, in closing I add the words of John Dick.  Contemplate them…

               “The Divine immutability, like the cloud which interposed between the Israelites and the Egyptian army, has a dark as well as a light side.  It insures the execution of His threatenings, as well as the performance of His promises; and destroys the hope which the guilty fondly cherish, that He will be all lenity to His frail and erring creatures, and that they will be much more lightly dealt with than the declarations of His own Word would lead us to expect.  We oppose to these deceitful and presumptuous speculations the solemn truth, that God is unchanging in veracity and purpose, in faithfulness and justice.”