I Will Magnify God with Thanksgiving!

I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
This will please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
Let the oppressed see it and be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive! (Psalm 69:30-32)

May all who seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee.
May those who love thy salvation say continually,
"Great is the Lord!" (Psalm 40:16)

O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. (Psalm 34:3)

Today I wanted to discuss how we can “magnify God” so I used Google to search for just that. I came upon an article from DesiringGod.org and I have included a bit of it below.

This was the heart cry of every Old Testament saint. And now it is the longing of every true Christian. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). That is, do everything so that God might be magnified.

David said, "I will magnify God with thanksgiving." The word "magnify" can be used in two different senses. It can mean [microscope magnifying] which is to make something appear greater than it is, as with a microscope or a magnifying glass. Or it can mean [telescope magnifying] which is to make something that may seem small or insignificant appear to be as great as it really is.

When David says, "I will magnify God with thanksgiving," he does not mean: "I will make a small God look bigger than he is. He means: "I will make a big God begin to look as big as he really is." We are not called to be microscopes, but telescopes.

There is nothing and nobody superior to God. And so the calling of those who love God is to make his greatness begin to look as great as it really is. The whole duty of the Christian can be summed up in this: feel, think, and act in a way that will make God look as great as he really is. Be a telescope for the world of the infinite starry wealth of the glory of God.

That God is great in every way that greatness is to be valued should be obvious to everyone. As the apostle says,

Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So men are without excuse for, although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks. (Romans 1:20, 21)

It ought to be obvious. But it isn't, due to the sinful insensitivity and forgetfulness of our hearts. Many of God's greatest attributes and most awesome and loving deeds pass in one ear and out the other without causing the slightest ripple of emotion within our hearts. Seeing we do not see, and hearing we do not hear. When our hearts are in such a condition, we need to beg God (like Paul did) to open the eyes of our hearts that we might know (that is, really know and feel) the hope to which he has called us, and what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe (Ephesians 1:18,19).

Haven't you all had experiences like I have in which you feel the goodness and faithfulness of God so intensely that you leap in the air and shout and hug your kids or hug somebody and say, "O God, how could I ever doubt you after this? How could I ever again despair of your help?" And then some short time later you find yourself doing just that—discouraged, and feeling no confidence in the goodness and greatness of God. Why? Because we are so prone to forget the evidences of God's goodness which we ourselves have experienced, not to mention the evidences in Scripture.

Do not forget what God has done for you. Instead, do what Asaph does in Psalm 77:11. “I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; yea I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate on all thy work, and muse on thy mighty deeds. Thy way, O God, is holy. What God is great like our God?”

We are called to be telescopes: people who make the greatness of God seem as great as it really is. This is what it means for a Christian to magnify God. But you can't magnify what you haven't seen or what you quickly forget. Therefore, our first task is to see and to remember the greatness and goodness of God. So we pray to God, "Open the eyes of my heart," and we preach to our souls, "Soul, forget not all his benefits!"

This is a really deep concept so for today this is all I will include. Tomorrow I plan on continuing this message a bit more. I pray that the Lord will open your eyes and ears to Him and help you become aware of His magnificence.

With love and prayers,
Shannon

A good friend of mine recently sent me this song. I felt it was perfect for today’s message! :)

“The Greatness of Our God” by One Sonic Society
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPxxzxBK_Eg&feature=player_embedded