God’s Magnified Word
12/27/2007
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Psalms 138:2, “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”
We will get right to the point with the question that is on our mind. What is magnified in your life? In school we have all spent time looking through the microscope in biology class, focusing in on the tip of our fingernail or the end of a pencil. When something is magnified it is not made bigger, but it does cause it to appear bigger. And as with the end of the pencil or your fingertip under the microscope, you see things in a different way.
David said, “…for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” Unfortunately we live in a carefree society. Immorality and corruption are all around us. We are a nation that is becoming laden with sin and wickedness. It would not be hard to prove this point unless one had been living under a rock for the last 40 years! All you have to do is turn on the Television or just take a stroll through the Mall. Listening to the wicked conversations in the work place is often enough to convince me that our minds have drifted from God and are firmly placed on the lusts of this world.
Statistics; however, suggest that some 90% of Americans have a belief in God. Only approximately 4% are Atheists while the remainder is undecided. 90% that is a big number! It is not uncommon for someone to acknowledge God in his or her remarks after having received some award. I have heard others refer to God as the “Man upstairs”. But while many profess to have a belief in God, many are ignorant of the God of the Bible! In fact many do not believe in the God of the bible. This is not to say that they aren’t children of God, but most belief’s about God come from man’s heart. Isaiah 4:1 states, “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.” This verse is speaking of those that want to have their own doctrine (bread) and want to be clothed in their own righteousness (apparel).
God’s word should be magnified in our lives. It should be elevated above all we think or do. It is only when his word is magnified to us that God can be magnified in our lives. If we don’t look at God’s word and read it, how can we know the true God? It is a popular trend to elevate man’s feelings above God’s word. The old saying, “if it feels good do it” has been used time and time again to satisfy the cravings of depraved man. Jeremiah said, “The heard is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?” If you follow the heart, it will always lead you in the wrong direction. But Gods word is a sure foundation.
What is magnified, elevated, in our lives:
Do we magnify man? Is man elevated above the word of God? Romans 3:3-4, “For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar…” I don’t care what a man may claim to know, or how convincing he might be; never magnify him above God’s word! Man at his best state is altogether vanity. Let God’s word be true! The Saints in 1Corinthians had a problem with elevating man. Paul concluded, “Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” Satan is hard at work in this world and would have men to glory in the wisdom of man. All to often we are willing to accept and believe what the preacher says without considering what God’s word says. We are living in a time when the world puts its stock in a preacher that sounds educated. Paul said in 1Cor.1: 26-27, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty”.
In Acts 12 Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, it is a voice of a god, and not of man. It was then, because Herod did not give glory to God, that he was eaten of worms. The result was that the word of God grew and multiplied. If there is a moral to this story it is “God gets the glory”!
Gods word is pure, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times (Ps.12: 4). How important is Gods word in your life? Is it magnified above your feelings, men, and the cares of this world? If we do not put a high value upon His written word, we will not have a high value of God!
The Apostle Peter said in 2Peter 1:19, “We have a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed…” What is Peter talking about? He is saying that even though he was an eyewitness to Christ’s majesty when he was transfigured before them in the Mount, that His word is even surer than that!
May we always look to God’s word for direction. His word should be a “lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”. It shows us where we are standing and where we should be walking. Even when it goes against our “judgment” or how we think things should be done, God’s word should forever be that foundation that we build our lives on. The Apostle Peter in Luke 5:5 said, “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net”. It is when we are obedient to His word, regardless of how smart or wise we think we may be, that God will bless us.
When His word is magnified to us, we have great trust and comfort in Him:
When our lives are built upon Christ the rock, He will give us strength to bear the storms of life. The rain of temptation, the waves of persecution, and the wind of every doctrine will not destroy that house but it will stand firm. Jeremiah 17:5-8 shows the contrast between the child of God who is trusting in man and the child of God who is trusting in God. One who is trusting in God will not see when heat cometh! The Apostle Paul was in prison with Silas and, after having their backs beaten, at midnight they began to sing praises unto the Lord! What strength they had in God! Paul would also say, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed, perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed”. Can you, dear child of God, say those things? Sometimes I am far from having that trust in God, but O’ how I long to have that comfort and assurance!
Let God’s word be magnified in your life! Trust solely in Him, “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved” (Ps.62: 6). Sit down and read His word, hear about his lovingkindness and truth. Hear how he took a wretched undeserving sinner and died for his sins on Golgotha’s hill. What brought about this lovingkindness? Was it not amazing grace! Read His word and hear truth! Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. The truth is that Christ died for your sins. He paid the debt full and complete. And nothing shall separate you from His love.
It is only then, when His word is magnified in our lives, that we will begin to magnify his holy and righteous name. Then can we, as Mary, proclaim, “My soul doth magnify the Lord”! John the Baptist said, “He must increase and I must decrease”. I trust that God would increase in my life, that I might more clearly view His word and magnify it above all else. And in doing so, I must decrease. For what am I, “that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am”.