MAGNIFY GOD!

 

Do you know what a magnifying glass is? It’s a piece of glass or lens that makes something look bigger. The lens of the magnifying glass is thicker than plain glass and makes objects appear larger than they really are.

If you look at the words on this piece of paper, they appear normal. Now, if you place this magnifying glass between the paper and your eye and look at it again, the words appear bigger.

I show this to you because in our Psalm today (34:1-8), we hear the words “magnify the Lord with me.” … Doesn’t that sound strange to you? How can we magnify the Lord? Can we look at God through a magnifying glass?

The Psalmist didn’t mean that we make God larger than He is like we make the words on this page larger than they are. But if I make something larger, then do I become smaller?

How about this for an example. In my sermon last Sunday, I mentioned Sydney McLaughlin. She’s the young woman who won the Gold Medal at the Olympics in the 400-meter hurdles. After she won, she gave all the praise to God. Her prayer is: “God, let me be the vessel in which You’re glorified, whatever the result is — how I conduct myself, how I carry myself, not just how I perform.” She magnified the Lord, and humbled herself. She made God greater and herself smaller.

You can be a star and be humble when you magnify God, but you don’t have to win a medal to start. You can praise God for your looks or grades, your athletic ability or musical talent. If you don’t have those, you can praise God for creating and loving you.

With that, let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless these and all children, and give their parents the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.