Musings and Contemplations

Malachi 1:11 ESV
From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.

Called to be Strong in the Lord

Psalm 89:11-23 NKJV
The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fullness, You have founded them. The north and the south, You have created them; Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name.
You have a mighty arm; strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne, mercy and truth go before Your face. Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long, and in Your righteousness they are exalted. For You are the glory of their strength, and in Your favor our horn is exalted. For our shield belongs to the Lord, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one and said: “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found My servant, David; with My holy oil I have anointed him, with whom My hand shall be established; also My arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague those who hate him.

Psalm 89:13-18
T. M. Moore
You have a strong arm, might to save, Lord,
You have exalted Jesus above.
Righteous and just, You rule by Your great Word,
Going before You, truth and love.
Blessed are all who in You rejoice, Lord,
Walking within the light of Your face;
To Your great Name they lift up their voice, Lord,
Raised by Your righteousness and Your grace.
You are our glory, You are our strength, Lord,
And by Your grace You lift us above.
You are our shield to protect us at length, Lord,
You are our King and rule by Your love.[1]

Jeremiah 1:4-10 NKJV
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Then said I: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”
But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.
Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”

J. Gordon McConville
Jeremiah’s first response to [God’s] call was most reluctant. He was only a young man. In a society which valued the wisdom of older people, he might well have felt unable to speak, i.e. a lack of any natural qualification to lead or to interpret events for the whole nation. The Lord, however, had anticipated his objection; he knew and appointed him before he was born. This is a remarkable statement of God’s foreknowledge, and particularly of his calling of an individual. It puts all natural and acquired qualifications in the shade. It also puts other aspirations in the shade. When God called Jeremiah, he laid his hand on him in such a way that there could be no true choice but to hear and obey. He had been brought to this hour for this purpose. Yet, of course, he must choose, and must obey, and continue to do so throughout his ministry.
The word to Jeremiah not only reassured the prophet but also validated his ministry among the people. In this sense it comes to all (not just ministers or other church officials) who feel their inability to perform what they know God has called them to. It warns church people generally against being superficial in assessing the gifts and ministries of others.^[2]

The Gospel Way Catechism Question #45
Why do we love and serve our neighbors?
We love and serve our neighbors as a sign of the kingdom of God. We do good works not to prove our goodness or earn salvation, but as the overflow of God’s love working in and through us.[3]

Lord,I have slighted your promises. I have neglected the motions of your Holy Spirit. I have not carefully cultivated the gifts I have received and I have not labored more and more to be sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Ah, Lord, how miniscule is my holiness!
Lord,you have looked on my poor condition and you have visited me with mercy from on high. Though I was a stranger and a foreigner, you have made me a free citizen of the new Jerusalem. Now I see, and I read it in your precious promises, that my name is registered in heaven. An eternal weight of glory is reserved for me. Heaven is my home, my hope, my inheritance. Amen.[4]

Completely Known, Completely Loved

Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.^[5]

[1] T. M. Moore, Psalm 89, The Ailbe Psalter, p. 105.
^[2] J. Gordon McConville, “Jeremiah,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 675.
[3] Trevin Wax and Thomas Watson, The Gospel Way Catechism, p. 160.
[4] A prayer by Isaac Ambrose from Piercing Heaven. Used in worship at Cayce Presbyterian Church, Cayce, SC on Sunday January 11, 2026.
^[5] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Jud 24–25.