Hearing God’s Voice from His Word
James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Take a moment and turn your attention to God. Tell God that you desire to trust and obey Him. Ask God to speak to you from His word.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 31:9-13
Be gracious to me, Lord,
because I am in distress;
my eyes are worn out from frustration—
my whole being as well.
10 Indeed, my life is consumed with grief
and my years with groaning;
my strength has failed because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away.
11 I am ridiculed by all my adversaries
and even by my neighbors.
I am dreaded by my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street run from me.
12 I am forgotten: gone from memory
like a dead person—like broken pottery.
13 I have heard the gossip of many;
terror is on every side.
When they conspired against me,
they plotted to take my life.
Read the Entire Psalm
Be gracious to me, Lord. The word for Lord in Hebrew here is YHWH. It is God’s personal, self-revealed name. This is the name he revealed in the burning bush to Moses. This is the name he revealed when Moses asks to see his glory. The psalmist in Psalm 31 is crying out in distress. He is crying out to the personal, covenant keeping, self-revealing God. God is not far and distant, but near and personal. Praise YHWH, the Lord, for revealing himself to us.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Exodus 34:5-8 – Christian Standard Bible
5 The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed his name, “the Lord.” 6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:
The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.
8 Moses immediately knelt low on the ground and worshiped.
Having God’s Ear through Prayer
- Express thanksgiving to God.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal sin to you.
- Confess your sin to Him and receive forgiveness.
(1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sin He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.”) - Bring your personal requests to God.
(Psalm 62:8 “Pour out your heart before God”) - Pray for someone in your small group.
- Join with others from River and pray for the River Youth. Ask God to strengthen them in their faith. Pray for youth at River who do not know Christ to be saved.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
Moses’ response to God’s glory and goodness passing him by is to bow low to the ground and worship (vs 8). He only caught a glimpse of God’s glory. He could only see God’s “back,” not his “face.” Ultimately, as the Bible’s storyline unfolds, we learn that Jesus is the full revelation of God’s glory. Just as in Exodus, God declares he “abounds in faithful love and truth,” so in John 1:14, we learn that Jesus is “full of grace and truth.” God’s glory finds ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. If we want to worship Jesus truly, we have to worship him “by the book,” which is to say as the Bible reveals him. Culture has all kinds of silly ideas about who Jesus is and what he is like. But if we want to worship Jesus truly, we have to go to the Bible and worship him as he is revealed there. If we fail to do that, then we really are just worshiping Jesus according to our own terms. We aren’t worshiping the Jesus of the Bible, rather, we’re just worshiping Jesus as we want him to be. The people of Israel fashioned an idol in the image of a golden calf. This was an attempt to worship a god they could control. They wanted to worship God according to their terms. Contrast that with Moses, who after he sees God’s glory, bows in humble worship. Let us be like Moses. Are you worshiping God according to your own terms or are you worshiping him as he has revealed himself?