Before All Gods [Authorities]

Meditation and Prayer on Psalm 138:1-3

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, We worship You with all our hearts. You do not accept the will worship of
empty ceremonies, or vain motions of the body, for You are the only Living and True God, the only Holy
and Eternal Spirit Who created all things Wisdom and Power, in Jesus Christ Your Only Begotten Son,
through the power of Your Holy Spirit.

Therefore we come before You with our whole hearts, minds, souls, and strength.

We will sing praises to You and lift our voices. You are in heaven and Your true and Holy Temple is there,
for You inhabit eternity. Even the heavens themselves cannot contain You though You are not far from any of
us.

We will sing our songs of praise before all the world, before all authorities, powers. What You have told us
in private, we will declare from the mountain tops as You have commanded. Your word is not to be
treasured up in private or behind closed doors, but is to be proclaimed to all men, whatever their station and
power and authority. For You have magnified Your word above all Your Name.

You have been pleased to make Your presence known at times and places in the history of the world and
these revelations of Yourself pointed to the time when Your dear Son, the Lord Jesus, would be made flesh
and dwell among us. He fully loved You with all Your hearts, souls, minds, and strength and being made a
perfect man He offered Himself up as a perfect sacrifice for sins, not on a Jewish altar, but outside the city,
on Mt. Golgotha, and thus took away our sin.

He established His church forever to be His earthly dwelling place, by His word and Spirit. In Your Church
we will offer up the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving for You lovingkindness and Your truth, which
endure throughout the ages.

In Your church, You have magnified You word above all Your name. Your promises to us would draw our
minds up to You, in love and gratitude, for You have not failed to do everything that You promised to do. 
Not one of Your promises fail.

O Lord, may we by You Spirit be faithful and true to speak Your word to all men. May Your word not be
diminished in our eyes or in our speech, but may it be magnified in our bodies, lived and preached and
confessed and obeyed. As Your precious holy apostle Paul prayed to You, [Php 1:20} “that in nothing I
shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body,
whether it be by life, or by death."

When we called upon You, O Lord, You heard and You answered us. You have strengthened me with
strength in my soul, so that I will not be ashamed. Blessed be Your Name forever and ever, Amen.
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“1 I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. 2 I will worship toward
thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy
word above all thy name. 3 In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength
in my soul.” (Ps 138:1-3)