Ascribe to His Beauty

"Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!" ~Psalm 96:6-9

As we close out our month dedicated to Prayer & Worship. I must say that my life and the lives of those who participated in the "Nights of Prayer" has been forever changed. We were able to enter in beyond the veil into the Holy of Holies to offer up a sacrifice of prayer and worship. In the New Testament, we learn that through Christ’s blood and death, God has made a way for us not only into the courts, but also through the veil into the Holy of Holies. We no longer need to bring a sacrifice for sins, for Christ was that sacrifice. Now we bring only a sacrifice of praise and the offering of our lives in response to Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. It’s not to ensure our right standing before God, but rather precisely because of it. Have you put your trust in Christ’s perfect offering before God? Then you can come into His courts freely as an adopted child of God and praise Him because He has graciously set you free.  The Psalms are filled with incredible passages that teach us about worship. Because worship is such a significant part of a believer’s life, it is beneficial to pause and take a look at what scripture tells us about it. Specifically, Psalm 96:6-9 give us wonderful insight into what worship truly is. The passage begins with some very high descriptions of God. Verse 6 says,

“ Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary”

Splendor and majesty are words of royal magnificence, declaring that God is the divine King. Along with this are some attributes of the King - strength and beauty. It is this God who invites His people into His sanctuary. Splendor and majesty seem to point us to God’s kingship and wonderful rule. For as many majestic things we see in this world, they are but a shadow and a reflection of God’s splendor and majesty. He is the source from which all splendor and majesty find their birthing place. His splendor never stutters, and his majesty can't be matched. Strength and beauty is an interesting combination. We surely experienced the strong combination of His beauty and his strength in our "Nights of Prayer". 

In verses 7-8, we find a threefold call to “ascribe to the Lord”. Verse 6 described who God is, however, verse 7 speaks directly to us and tells us clearly what we are to do.

“Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!"

We don’t often hear the word “ascribe” in our every day conversations. What does it mean? It literally means “to give", which leads to the next question: how do we “give” something to a God who possesses everything? Though “praise-filled recognition or response”. We see his glory and strength, and in turn recognize it and praise it! Our “giving” does not add to that glory, but rather God is glorified when we delight in who He already is.  The psalmist calls to the “families of the peoples” to praise this God together, not just alone. There’s such an importance to the corporate dimension of our praises! God has historically called a people to himself, not just individuals. Because of who God is, we are to ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. In other words, we are to tell God who he is. So, when we understand that our God is a God of splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty, then we are to attribute His character back to Him and give Him the respect and honor He deserves - the glory due his name. 

Verse 8 gets a bit personal, it is where the scripture tells us to bring an offering and come into his courts. In a sense, the psalmist is saying, “you understand who God is and that he deserves our worship, now offer yourself as a sacrifice, and come into His presence.” The idea here is that when we view ourselves in the light of the holiness and majesty of God, then we can come before him with humility and bring ourselves as an offering. It is an act of surrender and God is inviting us into His presence.

From this passage in Psalm 96 we can come up with a valuable definition of what worship is. It is simply reflecting back to God the glory of everything that He is with everything that we are. . So, the next time you find yourself praying, or singing out songs that declare the character and supremacy of God, remember that this is what the Psalms tell us to do in Verse 9

Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

We were created by God to give our worship to Him in prayer, song and through our lives, for His strength and beauty are found in His sanctuary.

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Jesus, You're Beautiful - CeCe Winans: Part 1

Jesus, You're Beautiful - CeCe Winans Part 2