Friday, February 23, 2018

PSALM 103 VERSE 21: "CHARIOTS OF FIRE AND SONGS OF PRAISE"

Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure (Psalm103:21)
All through this amazing Psalm of the Grace and Love of God towards us, we see the phrase “Bless the Lord”.  He, the Lord, is the Object and complete Focus of all Praise, Adoration, and Worship in this process of “blessing the Lord”. While we expect humans, mere mortals to praise and thank God for ALL He has done for us, we just noted in Verse 20 that the Holy Spirit, writing in the pens of King David, even instructed Angels to Bless His Holy Name. For the angels, this is already second nature. They were at the Creation and God said in Job 38:7 when He stated the following “When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
Jesus and the Two Angels who destroyed Sodom
and Gomorrah visit Abraham
The sons of God were/are the Angels in this context. One important note here: whenever we see the Bible, primarily the Old Testament, mention “THE ANGEL OF GOD (or ANGEL OF THE LORD)” (as opposed to the angels), this refers to the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. Jesus made several visits to earth even before He was born as a baby in  Bethlehem to Mary. He was walking in the Garden after He created Adam and Eve and was in fellowship with them daily. He had to expel them in Genesis 3 after they bought the lies of Satan. Jesus appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18 (click here). He wrestled with Jacob all night in Genesis  (click here). He appeared in the Pillar of Fire by night and the Cloud by Day to lead Israel through the desert in the Exodus. He appeared to Joshua in Joshua in Joshua 5:10-15 and then Samson’s parents in Judges

In verse 21, here, we see mention of the great Heavenly “Hosts”. This is not a reference to the sun, moon, and stars. Those are not living entities like humans and angels. Just like the President or Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, for example, has Army, Air Force and Marine Generals or Navy Admirals, along with the elite Navy Seals or Special Forces, God has an Army of the Heavenly Hosts who will one day descend on white horses behind the Lord Jesus on the Final Days of the current world. The hosts of heaven were visible for the first time when the Lord allowed Elisha to call for the Chariots of Fire as recorded here in 2 Kings 6:17 in stunning, awestruck wonder: Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." And the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha".

The Angels of heaven glorify God. The Armed Forces of Heaven are blazing in the Glory of the Father, and bless His Holy Name….and so must His Ministers.  The ministers of God in the Old Testament were the select few Levite priests who descended from Moses’ brother. Their lives were dedicated to all aspects of Temple worship – from administering at the Holy of Holies to slaying the sacrifice according to Levitical Law. Jesus Christ upended this apple cart!

Since the Resurrection, all Christians who are truly committed disciples of the Lord Jesus, are now ministers. The Apostle Peter relays the following from Heaven in 1 Peter 2:9 "But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light".

All of us are supposed to minister unto the Lord, through obedience, daily prayer, praise, and worship. However, this calls for more. The under-shepherds of Christ – pastors and preachers – have an even greater responsibility. One of the ways which ministers are supposed “to do His pleasure” is to teach, encourage and proclaim the Word of the Lord. Billy Graham was perfect at this. He never said “Billy Graham says”….it was always, “the Bible says”….or the “Bible is clear on this….”. The accountability which ministers, evangelists, parachurch leaders, TV hosts etc have is way above the average Christian. Even writing these explanations of God’s Word on this site carries a serious responsibility. I have to be absolutely sure of what I am writing here, and especially when I write about “thus sayeth the Lord”.

God is not to be trifled with. We, who are blessed with the gift of teaching, preaching and explaining the Word of God and THEN, to express what we have learned about the Incomparable Christ and our Heavenly Father in total praise, MUST do so according to His Precepts! God’s pleasure is found when His people do His Will and do it willingly. His ministers are not only to teach and point to Who He is but to inspire and exhort passion and love, adoration and excitement, reverence and awe for the Incredible God of Heaven. “Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure”.


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