Have you seen the glory of God ?

⁴ Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
With the lyre and the sound of melody.
⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn
Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.

⁷ Let the sea roar and all it contains,
The world and those who dwell in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy
⁹ Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with equity.

For those who follow nuggets regularly, you may have noticed that Sunday themes are generally centered around praise and worship, often based on the Psalms. Today again in Psalm 97 we see the psalmist acknowledging the greatness of God, His power and dominion as the heading says. There is a sense of awe and trembling at the recognition of the power God has. Yet the psalmist says " Let the earth rejoice; let the  many islands be glad" The psalmist encourages this joy and gladness under the reign of God because "righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne." Though God has the power to change the very landscape of the earth, melting the mountains like wax, the heavens declare His righteousness and all the people see His glory.

Have you seen the glory of the Lord ? That's a question I want you to answer for yourself today, have you seen the glory of the Lord ? Isaiah had a vision of God's glory in Isaiah chapter 6:

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. ² Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

The seraphim didn't say that heaven is full of His glory(though surely it is), one called out to another “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” The whole earth is full of His glory. Have you seen the glory of the Lord ? Some will say that things have gotten quite a bit worse, that there is little evidence of the glory of God on earth today. It is true that when we look with a world view, through the lense of the fallen state of this present world it can be difficult to see God's glory. Yet as we open our eyes to the vastness of creation we hear the heavens declaring His righteousness. If we look at the beauty and intricacy of creation we see His glory. Still God wants us to see more than the glory of His creation, He wants to reveal His glory to His people.

 Psalm 98 above, begins to talk about God's revelation of Himself. The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. ³ He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Our response to God's revelation of Himself should be to as the psalmist exhorts us,

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
With the lyre and the sound of melody.
⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn
Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.

The sea will roar, the rivers clap and the mountains sing. All of creation praises the Lord, it has seen the glory of God. Have you seen the glory of God ?

click this link, you may have to open it in a new window, soak in His presence, see His glory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z6zZey0opE