God Magnified

1) I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2) My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 3) Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! 4) I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. —Psalm 34:1-4


Do you want to be able to say, “God delivered me from all my fears”? When God is magnified, fear vanishes.

Do you remember as a kid playing with a magnifying glass? Does the magnifying glass make things bigger? No, it just makes things look bigger in my eyes. When God is magnified—when we sing, “Be magnified, O Lord,” we don’t make God bigger; we recognize Him better for what He really is through that focus. When God is magnified, fear leaves the building.

Fear and a right view of God cannot co-exist. If my heart is filled with fear, I am not rightly estimating God in His capacities and interest and His care in my life. Go ahead and say it out loud: “When God is magnified fear is gone.”

In 2 Chronicles 20:1-30, there’s a classic fear-inducing episode. Judah was being threatened with an impressive force of ‘ites (Moabites, Ammonites, Meunites). These were surrounding nations that decided Judah was easy pickings. They formed a flash-mob and “came against Jehoshaphat” (v.1). Chronicles is famous for big odds: God’s people, few; God’s enemies, many. When God was forgotten, the odds were overwhelmingly bad; when God was magnified, the odds didn’t matter anymore.

Jehoshaphat was a good king; not a great king, just a good one. Not an evil king; just an average, good king. God was judging him. Judah was in the south where Jerusalem is, the smaller portion of the nation of Israel—a divided kingdom. And Jehoshaphat was the fourth king over Judah. This turned out to be his shining moment!

Like David in today’s Psalm, Jehoshaphat “was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord” (v.3). After a fast, the king gathered the people and magnified the Lord. In verses 5-12, Jehoshaphat turned the whole problem over to God. What a great way to end a prayer: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You!” We magnify the Lord so that we can see Him more clearly! We magnify the Lord so that we can admit we bring little to the battle because the battle belongs to the Lord!



Journal

How will I magnify the Lord in at least three ways today?

In what areas of life would it help for me to pray, “I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on You, Lord.”


Prayer: When I magnify You, Father, and see You more clearly in Your greatness, everything else shrinks in size to nothing. Instead of being mesmerized by my fears or struggles or challenges, help me to turn my eyes from those and gaze at all that You are. Even when I don’t know what to do, having my eyes on You will make all the difference. You will make a way where I can’t see a way. Be magnified in my life today, O Lord! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
 
(Via Greg Laurie)
 
Be Blessed!
 
Dawn