Are you enduring personal suffering right now? Are you afraid as you stare horrified at earthly happenings, wondering about potential suffering to come? Are you surrounded by effects of sin and evil on every side? It seems that we as idol-making humans are worshiping anything and everything other than Jesus Christ.
Let us not be surprised, for His Word tells us what will eventually happen in this fallen world of inborn sin.
And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold (Mt. 24:12 ESV).
And all who dwell on earth will worship [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain (Rev. 13:8 ESV).
Dear ones, if we are in Christ, in the Lamb who was slain, we worship Jesus now and forever. I am comforted by Jesus’ empathetic understanding of the squeeze of our enemy as we suffer. When Satan was tempting Jesus, he tempted him to worship all the things this earth has to offer us as self-focused humans. Jesus fought back:
Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints (Rev. 13:10 ESV).
We are in the fight too as suffering increases. Let’s fight together. This week, let’s interrupt all of it as we adore Him with His Word. By “adore,” I mean the old dictionary definition of “regarding” with the utmost respect and esteem in worship. Let’s adore Christ with a gospel-centered moment of worship today, beloved.
Lord, You are holy, holy, holy
Who will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy (Rev. 15: 4a ESV).
Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
and in all their kingdoms
there is none like you (Jer. 10:7 ESV).
King of the nations, I see Your holiness, greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty, exalted above all the earth (I Chron. 19:11). I see my microscopic smallness, my total need, and complete dependence on You. You alone are holy and I am overwhelmed by Your gift to me in Jesus Christ, my Savior.
Jesus Christ, I adore You as Redeemer
Christ, we do all adore Thee,
and we do praise Thee forever.
(“Christ, We Do All Adore Thee,” Baker, T., 1899).
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13 ESV).
Lord, you chose me, drew me, brought me, opened my eyes, purchased me, saved me, freed me. You satisfied all the demands of Your just wrath on sin, required for anyone to be in Your holy presence. And now, I look forward to adoring You as I see You face to face and live with You forever, through all of eternal time. Oh, what a gift You’ve given to me, my Redeemer. Jesus Christ, I adore You.
[We are] justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom 3:24 ESV).
for on the holy cross hast Thou
the world from sin redeemed.
(“Christ, We Do All Adore Thee,” Baker, T., 1899).
Jesus Christ, I adore You in song
As fear surrounds, let’s adore Him! As fear surrounds, let’s sing adoration to Him! In my deepest of suffering, singing Scripture and truths of His Word has been a powerful weapon in battling against fear. My academic research has shown me many reasons why this is so, as singing is a uniquely embodied and holistic process that involves our physical senses, mind, and soul. Singing is particularly powerful!
I’m struck by the order of events in this Scripture. First, we sing praises aloud, to God, with our lips. Second, our soul sings, which He has redeemed! He talks about shouting for joy when all of this happens!
Christ, we do all adore thee,
and we do praise thee forever!
The short text, famously put to music by Dubois, reminds me of the worth of memorizing short and simple Scriptural songs when the battle rages and words are hard to recall. Dear friends, this week’s playlist is filled with short songs of adoration we can use to easily internalize Scripture and its truths. Jesus Christ is the exalted object of our adoration, our focus, and our joy when we sing these songs to Him. If it would bless and encourage you, sign up here for the playlist and let’s sing!
