“Ten Thousand Reasons For My Heart To Find”
I remember one of the first baptisms I ever witnessed at First Baptist. A young girl was being baptized, and she shared her favorite Bible verse: Romans 1:20:
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
I was a bit shocked to hear this. First, because I assumed the vocabulary of this verse was beyond most kids her age. Second, and more importantly, I remember it because of its theological depth. Most people point to verses like John 3:16 or Romans 5:8 that speak of God’s love and forgiveness for us while we were still sinners.
I never got around to asking her why this was her favorite verse, but I love that she quoted it. It speaks to a deep theological truth: while God is sacred, set apart from us, and holy in all His ways, He is not distant, hidden, or unknowable.
This verse gives us confidence that while we cannot and will not ever measure up to God, He has revealed Himself to His creation, and we can know Him.
This Sunday our big idea is:
“God reveals Himself as holy, loving, just, and merciful—perfectly worthy of our worship.”
The understanding is that our knowledge of God should motivate us to praise. The more we know about God, the more motivated we should be to worship—and the less “work” that worship will feel like.
As we grow in understanding and appreciation for who God is, our praise will flow more naturally.
One of our songs for Sunday is 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) by Matt Redman.
This song, unlike most, actually starts with the chorus:
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul,
Worship His holy name.
Sing like never before, O my soul,
I’ll worship Your holy name.”
I like this because it reminds us that as followers of Christ, we are to live to bless God’s name.
Psalm 100:4 says,
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
We are not only to sing praises to God but also to live in a way that displays who He is to the world around us. Everything we do should be for God’s glory, not our own.
The song then goes on to list reasons why we do this. I just want to highlight a few characteristics of God mentioned in verse 2:
“You’re rich in love and You’re slow to anger.
Your name is great and Your heart is kind.
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing,
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.”
“You’re rich in love”
Ephesians 2:4–5 — But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
“You’re slow to anger”
Exodus 34:6 — The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
“Your name is great”
Psalm 145:3 — Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
“Your heart is kind”
Psalm 107:1 — Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
“For all Your goodness”
Psalm 34:8 — Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Last week in my small group, we talked about God as Father. In the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus tells us to pray, “Our Father.” We looked at how that truth should define and impact our relationship with God.
Here’s the thing—how do we know what kind of Father God is? To allow the truth of God as Heavenly Father to impact our relationship, we need to get to know Him. We do that primarily through Scripture, and then through prayer and daily dependence on Him (living out His commands through the power of the Spirit—Galatians 5:16).
If we don’t have all three of those elements in our relationship with God, our relationship will be stunted. It will not flourish. We won’t advance in our understanding or appreciation of God, and our praise will not increase.
God’s Word is full of truths about what He is like. He has revealed Himself through His Word. But that is only one part of our relationship. It’s one thing to know what someone is like; it’s another to actually develop an appreciation for them because you spend time with them, experiencing those attributes. That’s where prayer and obedience come in.
You can understand the attributes of God on paper, but experiencing them takes that understanding to a whole other level.
While God is holy and set apart, He is not unreachable or distant. Elmer Towns, in his book Praying the Lord’s Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough, says:
“When you begin your prayer, ‘Our Father,’ you begin praying in an intimate relationship with God—that of a father and a child. God is not an angry judge waiting to punish you, nor is He aloof and ignoring you, nor is He too busy to hear you. God is not some far-off deity in heaven; He is your Father who can be approached on an intimate basis. Prayer should be like a child jumping on the father’s lap to say, ‘I love you.’
The Lord’s Prayer is therefore not just for you. It is also for God. Begin with ‘Hallowed be Thy Name.’ Begin with God and His desire. He desires to be glorified.”1
Our relationship with God is both intimate and reverent. By reverent I don’t mean quiet—I mean not taken lightly.
We can both jump into His lap like a child saying, “I love you,” but also realize that we do so not for our glory but for His.
If someone were to ask you, “What is God like?” how would you respond? Would your list be short, limited to certain characteristics, or would it paint a complete picture of God?
As we go throughout our week, let’s make it a point to look for the attributes and characteristics of God revealed to us in Scripture along with the songs we sing, the prayers we pray, and the power we witness as we seek to live by the Spirit.
What would you draw on to make those conclusions?
It’s one thing to say, “This is what God is like because I was told that.” It’s another to say, “This is what God is like because I’ve experienced it—and you can experience it too.” When we are able to do the second, our proclamation of His name to those around us will be much more impactful.
Verse 2 of 10,000 reasons closes with “Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.”
My our head discover and our hearts embrace the countless reasons we have to ‘Bless His Name”
- Elmer Towns, Praying the Lord’s Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough (Regal Publishing, 1997) PG 63.
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