"ACKNOWLEDGING THE LORD IS GOD"

B11 July 31, 2011
Dr. Glen A. Thorp Psalm 100,
(All Rights Reserved Exodus 33:12-23

“ACKNOWLEDGING THE LORD IS GOD”
(God Made us, We did not Make God)

INTRODUCTION: Through Facebook I have connected with a cousin in Sweden. The other day she asked: “Are Darwin’s evolution and believing
in God an absolutely impossible mix?” I responded:
“No. If Darwins would believe in a God,
Evolution is compatible with a Creative God.
If Darwinians believe creation/evolution is just by chance,
it would be difficult.”

Elisabet Pettersson’s question (I have my cousin’s permission to use her question and name) prompted me in recalling an article I read in the Wall Street Journal entitled: Man vs. God, WSJ, 9/13/09+
The two people named below were commissioned to respond independently to the question: “Where does evolution leave God?”

Richard Dawkins: an Atheist and author of many books including:
The God Delusion and published in 2009, The Greatest Show On Earth, responded: Evolution leaves God with nothing to do.

Karen Armstrong: Author of many books, The Case for God also published in 2009 responded:
We need God to grasp the wonder of our existence.

Richard Dawkins continued:
“Evolution is probably the Greatest Show on Earth.
Alien life, if it does exist, will be Darwinian life.
It is possible we really are alone in the universe, in which case Earth, with its greatest show, is the most remarkable planet in the universe.
What is so special about life? It never violates the laws of physics...If it did, scientists would just have to formulate new laws...there never was a rock that bounded like a kangaroo, never a pebble that crawled like a beetle seeking a mate, never a grain of sand that swam like a water flea...
Never once are the laws of physics violated, yet life emerges into unchartered territory...What if there are life forms on other planets that have evolved so far beyond our level of intelligence and creativity that we should regard them as gods...they would not be gods...they did not create the universe, it created them, just as it created us...Where does this leave God. The kindest thing to say is it leaves him with nothing to do, and no achievements that might attract our praise, our worship or our fear...God is not dead. He was never alive in the first place.”

There is one major problem with Dawkin’s argument, physics can not indicate what life is or where it came from. There are multiple hypothesis, but none that have been proven. Dawkins is correct: "beings did not create the universe," but he is wrong in saying that the universe created beings.
Physics cannot explain why life exists or where it is going.
(Read story at the end of this blog) about Albert Einstein riding a train from Princeton, N.J.*

I won’t take time to discuss Karen Armstrong’s rebuttal.
I will go our Authority, God’s Word, The Bible..

Know this: God is God and
God made us, we didn’t make God.

God is our Creator, we did not create ourselves.
Many people live as though they are the creator and center of their own little world. This mind-set leads to a greedy possessiveness and if everything should be taken away, a loss of hope. When we realize God created us and gives all we have, we will want to give to others as God gave to us. (II Corithians 9:8)
If all is lost, we still have God and all he gives us.

Let us look at Psalm 100 to see what we learn about God and how we respond to the God who created ...

It was written for use by the Jews in their worship.
It is one the “Psalms of Ascent” used by pilgrims.

PSALM 100 is a invitation to worship and joyfully enter the Temple and into God’s presence.
As Pilgrims approached, a Choir summoned them.
The Pilgrims respond - Antiphonally between the choir and the pilgrims.

Written in Hebrew Poetic Parallel Structure this Psalm was likely sung.

Acknowledging the Lord is God.
Surrounded by countries who worshiped their own gods, especially when in Babylonian captivity, the Hebrews were reminded of who their God was, God’s Character and why they journied to the Temple to worship God.

God alone is worthy of being worshiped.
Do we need church? Why do we attend worship?
What is your attitude toward worship?
Do you willingly and joyfully come into God’s presence or are you just going through the motions; reluctantly attending worship?

This Psalm is for us as well. It reminds us of God’s goodness and dependability. Our response is to worship God with thanksgiving and praise.

vs. 1 Shout to the Lord, all the land, (Earth)
Serve the Lord with gladness; (Worship)
v. 2 Come before him with singing (Joyful Songs)

v. 3 The theme of their glad song is threefold:
Know ye that the Lord alone is God.
He has made us and we belong to Him;
We are His people & sheep of his pasture.

LORD, English for the Hebrew YHWH, is God.
This is foundational to the believe in Monotheism.
KNOW means to ACKNOWLEDGE.
Know a simple truth like 2+2=4
Know YHWH is God is a fact.
Be sure that YHWH is God ... Trust ...
Acknowledge by acting on that belief and living by drawing on that assurance, comfort and strength. Our Response is Grateful Worship.

v. 4 Choir: Invites Pilgrims to enter the gates leading to the courts of the Temple with Three acts of worship:
Enter into His gates
with a thank offering,
Into His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him,
Bless His Name. (with bended knee)

v. 5 Reason: Profound acknowledgment
of the three fold Character of God:
For good is the Lord;
His loving-kindness endures forever,
And His faithfulness lasts from
generation to generation.

Dependancy of God’s Character allows us to trust!
John Green-leaf Whittier captures that theme in his The Eternal Goodness:
Yet, in the maddening maze of things,
And tossed by storm and flood,
To one fixed trust my spirit clings;
I know that God is good.

Read I Kings 18:16-39 about a test between,
Elijah, a prophet of YHWH and prophets of Baal.
At the end of the test, the people fell acknowledged
(vs.39) The Lord, He is God!
The Lord, He is God!
(Implied: “Not Baal. Baal is not god.”)

Psalm 100 has enjoyed a long history of paraphrase in Christian hymnody. One:
All People that on Earth Do Dwell
v. 1 All people that on earth do dwell=All the earth
(4 Imperatives vs. 3 in psalm) Praise forth tell

v. 2 Know that the Lord is God indeed; (Psalm 100:3)
“without our aid He did make us.”
We belong to Him.

v. 3 O enter then His gates with praise ...(Psalm 100:4)
For it is seemly to do so (Reason - v. 5)

v. 4 For why? the Lord our God is good,
His mercy is forever sure. Connects v. 3 to 4.
4 Clauses in vs. 3 come from the psalm.
His truth at all times firmly stood
And from age to age endure.

CONCLUSION: Acknowledge the Lord is God?

For what are you most Thankful?
To whom or what do you give thanks?
The Universe? as Dawkins writes. If so how?
Psalmist calls us to give thanks to God - YHWH
Six Reasons:
Know ye that the Lord alone is God.
He has made us and we belong to Him;
We are His people & sheep of his pasture.

For good is the Lord;
His loving-kindness endures forever,
And His faithfulness lasts from generation to geneneration.

Applies to all the earth ...
Nothing is outside God’s concern.

Reasons we gather with praise and thanksgiving.
Which of the six reasons most motivates you?

Read Exodus 33:12-23 recording a dialogue between Moses and the Glory of YHWH. Moses: Teach me your ways so I may know you ...

Fulfilled in Transfiguration of Jesus Lk 9:30
(Those who started reading my messages back on March 6, 2011 will understand how God’s Glory was revealed through Jesus with Moses and Jeremiah standing on either side of Jesus. Moses was the Law giver and Elijah, the same Prophet who took on the prophets of Baal.
Jesus was that one called Lord God, the one who gave the Law and who came to fulfill it.)

I ended my conversation with referring Elisabet to the Wall Street Journal article and said:
The point of the article is that Dawkins writes: "Evolution leaves God with nothing to do." Therefore, we don't need God. Armstrong replies: "Looking at the Universe, we need God to appreciate the wonder of our existence." How is it that we are unique in the Universe, at least as we have expolored it so far? God Created ...

Acknowledge the Lord is God
Respond with JOY!
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*Albert Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn't find it.

The conductor said, "Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it."

Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned
around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.

The conductor rushed back and said, "Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are. No problem. You don't need a ticket.
I'm sure you bought one."

Einstein looked at him and said, "Young man, I too, know who I am.
What I don't know is where I'm going."

+”Man vs. God, The Wall Street Journal, 9/13/09
Here is the link. Copy to open: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574405030643556324.htm

"HOLDING THESE TRUTHS ..."

Dr. Glen A. Thorp July 3, 2011
Acts 22:22-29, Psalms 33:1-22 (Independence Sunday)
(All Rights Reserved)

“HOLDING THESE TRUTHS ...”
(Celebrating America’s 235rd Birthday)

INTRODUCTION: 235 years ago a group representing each of the 13 British Colonies in the New World met in Philadelphia to decide what course of action should be taken against the King of Great Britain. For months these representatives had been arguing amongst themselves as to what they should do.

Issues:
• King was not Assenting to the Laws, the most wholesome and necessary good for the public.
• Forbidding Governors from passing Laws of immediate and pressing importance until the Assent of the King.
• Relinquishing rights of Representation in the Legislature, rights inestimable to them.
• Calling meetings of Legislature in unusual places and times for purpose of fatiguing them.
• Dissolving Representative Houses for opposing the invasion of the rights of people.
• Refusing to allow others to be elected.
• Obstructing Laws of Naturalization of Foreigners.
• Obstructing the administration of justice, by refusing to Assent to Laws for establishing Justices.
• Making Judges dependent on the Kings will.
• Erecting new offices to harass people and to eat out of their substance.
• Keeping among us, in time of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislators.
• Rendering the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. (Total: 27 charges against the King)*

After great debate, realizing the consequences of their action, The Continental Congress voted to Declare their Independence from the British Crown. After additional hours of exacting work & debate, July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence was adopted. First published on July 6, 1776 in the Pennsylvania Evening Post. It wasn’t until August 2, 1776 that a copy of the Declaration was signed by members of Congress.
“When in the Course of human events ...
We hold these TRUTHS to be self-evident ...
We therefore, the Representatives ...

235 years later we, as a nation, are struggling with an identity crisis. With the National Unemployment at 9.1%, Home values way down & a request to raise the $14.29 trillion debt ceiling. Although a majority of U.S. military troops were withdrawn from Iraq & soon from Afghanistan we still face Uncertainty in that entire region and Middle East.

There seems No basis, No truth: “Whatever seems best for society.”
“Social Laws are relative.”
Knowing the reason for our founding is important today.
John Calvin regarding Justice: The source of Laws is God’s Word.
(See Footnote** for an illustration of what John Calvin meant.)

It is because of God’s Law that People can act ...
Revolution often follows Christianity.
Bible inspired Rutherford who inspired John Witherspoon, signer of Declation and found of what is today called Princeton University.
Reformation inspired Locke who inspired Thomas Jefferson.
Martin Luther wrote of “Priesthood of Believers.”
Fundamentally equating among people control of authority by individual conscience.
John Calvin wrote of God's Elect and inspired Puritans -
Absolute Freedom, Absolute Authority for War.
Social Contract based on God’s Covenant.
God the Absolute, granted Freedoms.
God's Contract was the cornerstone of English & American Law
Localism - Town Hall Meetings.

David Minwar writes of the:
Four Basic Tenants of American Development:
1. Doctrine of Equality - Each created in God’s Image. Priesthood of Believers - (Value of Individuals).
2. Government founded on the consent of the governed.
3. Work lead to release from uncertainties of Society.
4. Public Education & Scholarship.+

John Locke: “Man’s interests: Life, Liberty & Estate.”
Man gives up some freedoms for Protection.
Purpose of Government is to Protect basic rights
- There are Limits of Power.
- Limit of the Consent.
(To speed process of implementing the Declaraiton it was decided to
skip ratification of states.)

Foundation of the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident ...
All men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

- “According to this view, man is an integral creature with innate moral qualities created in personal relationship with God.
- While man is created by God for relationship with God, man has broken that relationship by setting up his own base - selfish passion.
- Lust is at war with Love.”++

It is this fact that explains the development of civil government.
“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted by the Consent of the Governed.”
Principal Problem for framers was Control of Authority
Liberty and Authority - Form and Freedom.

“The declaration assumes an absolute metaphysics from which are derived the ideas of self-evident rights and equality of men. The propositions that men are equal and have unalienable rights are moral axioms understood through reason, but not subject to proof, in the empirical sense. (Scripture) They are expressive of the fundamental moral revelations of natural law that governs the universe whether they are understood or honored does not affect their verity.”+++

Compare the Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness with the
Liberte, Egalete, Fraternite (Life, Equality, Fraternity) of the French Revolution. For us the value of our God given life leads to liberty so that we may pursue happiness. The French Revolution was founded on liberty & equality. That revolution resulted in cruel deaths & chaos.
The monarchy was replaced by an emperor, Napoleon.

George Washington: “The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.”

John Adams: “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were...the great principles of Christianity.”
He recommended that America’s birthday “be commemorated as a
day of solemn deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”

John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States on July 4, 1837 said:
“In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked to the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first principles of Christianity.” I would and God’s Word.

If you haven’t read the Declaration of Independence lately
I strongly urge you to do so over this 4th of July weekend.

The Signers of the Declaration of Independence knew they would be condemned to death & were placing their lives & property of the line for holding to the truths by which they stood & declaring independence from the King

(Nine of the thirty-six Signers died in the Revolutionary War.)

Here are a sample of the Scriptures that influenced them and
can give us truths we can hold guiding our decisions.

Psalm 33:4 God’s words are right, true and can be trusted.
God’s Word is reliable because, unlike people
God does not lie, forget, change his words or
leave his promises unfulfilled. We can trust God’s Word because it contains the words of a trustworthy, and unchangeable God.

Psalm 33:6-9 is a Poetic summary of Creation.
God is coordinator of natural forces,
Lord of creation and The Almighty God.
Because God is all-powerful we revere him in all we do.

Psalm 33:11 "The plans of the Lord stand forever.
Are you frustrated by the inconsistencies seen in others, or yourself?
God is completely trustworthy, his intentions never change.
James 1:17 says:
Every good and perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows.

When wondering whom you can trust, God is consistent.
Let God counsel you, and trust God’s plans for your life.

Read Psalm 33:16-17 Horse is equated with military strength.
Because God rules and overrules every nation leaders should never put their complete trust in physical power. Military might is not the ground of hope Hope is in God.

The Bottom Line is found in Psalm 33:12
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.

In uncertain times where will place your trust?
What will you hold on to? What truths will guide you?

May our nation return to foundation & truths held
by our founding fathers. Holding these Truths ...

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* Thomas J. Norton, The Constitution... p. 267
+ David Minwar, Ideas and Politics: p. 31
++ Ibid. p. 77
+++ Ibid.

** In old court house, Geneva, Switzerland where John Calvin served as Pastor and dramatically change the city there is a painting on the wall behind where the Judge sits. The painting is of a courtroom. In the corner is Justice portrayed as a woman holding a scale in one hand and sword in the other. She in not blindfolded as she is in our country.
In front of the Judge are two tables with lawyers & clients sitting behind them facing the Judge. The Judge is looking at Justice who’s sword is pointing to the Bible. Thus John Calvin’s statement that Justice and
it’s laws are founded on God’s Word, Bible.