God's Glory

Psalm 57:5, 11

"Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! 

Let your glory be over all the earth"!

The why question is the biggest question in life. The why question is rooted in the thought of “what’s the point”? People want a reason why things happen. The Scriptures tell us some things happen because we live in a sin filled world. But this Psalms shows there is a deeper answer to the question. Why does sin happen? Why does God ordain things to happen in life that cause heartache? I believe this Psalm teaches us the root of all. This answer is not one that will give us good feelings. This answer is not one that will make us all warm and fuzzy. We are not going to get goose bumps because the answer to the “what’s the point” will make us feel good. This answer is not even what we want to hear many times. But David in this Psalm roots everything to one purpose. Did you see it? Look at verse 5 and verse 11. Let’s read them both again. “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, let your glory be over all the earth.” The reason for everything, even sin in the world. The reason we worship while life is falling apart. I would even say, like I believe David is saying, the reason life falls apart is…So God can be exalted and His glory shine over all the earth.

God’s glory and His glory being the root of our pain, is hard for us to hear. If we are honest with ourselves. When life is falling apart we want a comforting word, telling us the outcome will be ok. This Psalm never gives a solution to David’s problem. But when David was in the cave, not sure if he was going to die or become King. It was still about the glory of God. Friends, this is the reasons we exist. To exalt God and let His glory be over all the earth. Many of us did not see the word play in this Psalm because of the translation. But if you go back to verse 8 of Psalm 57, it is there. Verse 8 says, awake my soul. The Hebrew word here is kabod. This word also appears 2 other times in this Psalm. Kabod is in verse 5 and verse 11. In those verses it is translated glory. If we translate it the same in verse 8 it would read, “awake my glory”. This word means literally; riches, heaviness, honor, reputation, importance, splendor, and testimonial. This word is given both for David’s being and the being of God. What is David actually saying in verse 8? “Awake my glory so that I can praise God”. Or “let my glory be about your glory”. Did you hear that? In verse 8 with the word play David is saying, Awake, let my glory be about the glory of God over all the earth. That means the reason we exist is to glorify God. The reason David is worshiping is to glorify God. The reason David is stuck in the hard time of life is to glorify God.

Now go back to the definition of kabod; riches, heaviness, honor, reputation, importance, splendor, and testimonial. The glory of God is a heavy topic. We are to feel the heaviness of this statement. We must feel the heaviness of God on us. Like a 50 pound bag of cement, the weight of God should press upon us. At the same time, it is simple. The glory of God is His reputation, His testimony, His importance. To worship God then; is to take his reputation, His testimony, and His importance over all the earth. Even in the midst of pain. In the middle of our hurt what are we doing for the glory of God? This Psalm shows us. This Psalm reminds us that God is of utmost importance in the middle of falling apart. We suffer, we express, we cry out, we trust, and we praise, all for the glory of God so that He will be exalted. That’s the point of it all. Everything is about the glory of God. We exist to make His name great, both in the good and in the heartache. We exist to spread His reputation over the earth, both in the good times and in the bad times. We exist to be testimonies of God. These are the actions that take our glory and align it with the glory of God.

But this is a hard lesson to learn. What we feel is still real. What we feel is very present in life’s moments. We can just wipe the pain away. We can’t just turn off the sin and its consequences. % years ago, there were moments when the sin was real, and I wished I could have imagined it away. But we can’t do that. David could not just imagine Saul and the kingdom his. But it is what we know and what we do that defines us in the pain. That was the greatest lesson I learned through that experience. I, and all of us, as God’s children, are defined by how we glorify God. This Psalm shows us that step by step process for exalting God when life is hard. Be aware and admit what we feel. Declare and hold fast to what we know. Respond with confidence and trust to God. And worship and exalt God. God is much heavier, greater, and ore powerful than any painful, broken, sinful, or hurtful situation this life can throw at us. We can and must worship God through life’s pain.