Lord

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.


The ancients give us our response to this God of Wisdom. If we choose to bow to His wisdom, then we choose to call Him Lord. We get this picture of Lord from the book of Exodus. Half the book is a gripping narrative of an obscure and severely brutalized people who are saved from slavery into a life of freedom. The other half is a meticulous, some think tedious, basic instruction and training in living the saved, free life. The story of salvation is not complete without both halves. You see we need both. We may see God’s order and purpose in creation and our lives, and may well want to participate with him in it. But God, as Master Designer, has also made clear that life with Him needs instruction and training and obedience.

God gives an invitation to His people Israel to participate in salvation (God doing for us what we can’t do for ourselves), first through their imagination and then, if they will, by faith – with their total lives in response to God. This Exodus story shows us how God continues to draw men and women in trouble out of the mess of history into the kingdom of salvation.

So where does that leave us? Perhaps our counterpart would be the book of 1 Peter. “As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy”…You call out to God for help and he helps – he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.” (1 Peter 1)

Holiness is the most attractive quality, the most intense experience we ever get of sheer life – authentic, first hand living, not life looked at and enjoyed from a distance. We find ourselves in on the operations of God Himself, not talking about them or reading about them. Holiness is a furnace that transforms the men and women who enter it. And holiness begins with a life that proclaims that Jesus is LORD.
(most of this from Eugene Peterson)

"For God makes all the decisions here. God is our king. God runs this place and he’ll keep us safe." (Is. 33:22)