Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.  In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.  The sea is his, for he made it and his hands formed the dry land.  Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

What do these verses tell us about God?

1. He is the Rock of Our Salvation
2. He is the Great God
3. He is the Great King
4. He is LORD
5. HE IS THE OWNER: OF MOUNTAIN PEAKS, SEAS, AND LAND
6. He is the LORD our Maker
7. He is worthy of our thanks, and we are to extol him with music and song

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

Bowing in worship.  Bowing and kneeling are vulnerable positions for a warrior king, but David knows in his heart that bowing to worship is safe  because he is part of ” the people of God’s pasture, the flock under his care”.  David, a shepherd himself as a boy, knows the shepherd protects the sheep at all cost, even laying down his life for them.

John 10 says, “I (Jesus) am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (vs. 11)  I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me…” (vs. 14)

How safe it is to be under His care.

But the LORD has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.

Notice: God did not build me a fortress to protect me from those who do evil.  HE has become my fortress.  In the Hebrew “has become” is in the past perfect tense, meaning “completely accomplished now”.  No matter where we are in life, or what has plagued us, we always have our fortress.  No one is taking these walls down!  GOD has completely accomplished now that He is our fortress.

Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O LORD.

This adornment is not like Christmas lights on the outside of a house, or a fresh coat of paint or new siding.  This is purity, unadulterated holiness, unapproachable by sinful man except for one thing: Jesus Christ has made it possible to approach this holiness through the redemption of His blood on the cross.

The senseless man does not know, fools do not understand, that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.

Let us, then, be sensible men/women of God, who understand that the wicked may flourish, but let us not be envious.  They will perish eternally without Christ.  We have a greater, more profound treasure that will never fade or spoil, kept in heaven for us as an inheritance.  They will not walk on streets of gold, be free of fear, or know the Lord of Glory Who will do away with all sorrow.  We know Him now and forever.

“Because he loves me, ” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.”

It is not the work we do, or how much we serve, or the dollar amount of our giving.  God rescues us because we love him.  It is our love that God desires.  More than the love we offer a best friend, greater than the love we share between husband and wife, it is the love of the greatest commandment.  Love…with our whole soul, with our whole mind, with our whole strength.