This Week’s Theme
God Incomprehensible
Isaiah 40.12-15
(The Knowledge of the Holy [KOTH], Chapter 2)

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, cannot be known through human effort and wisdom alone. As Tozer says at the very beginning of his reflections on God in our devotional text, “Yet at the outset I must acknowledge that it cannot be answered to say that God is not like anything; that is, He is not exactly like anything or anybody” (The Knowledge of the Holy [KOTH], p. 6). At the beginning of our musings on God’s person and being, let us acknowledge our God as greater than anything we can think, envision, or comprehend. From the start let us acknowledge our limitations and lacks; only through the Holy Spirit can our God be known.

The prophet Isaiah described our God as one whose greatness and glory transcends our ability to comprehend. In describing the Lord, he asks who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, marking off the heavens with a span, who is so great as to enclose the dust of the earth in a measure, weigh the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? He declares that no one has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or showed him counsel? The Lord has consulted with no one, and no counselor has made him understand anything. No one has taught him justice’s path, or taught him knowledge or the way of understanding. In comparison to greatness and glory, the nations are like a drop of liquid from a bucket, even like the dust on some scales. Our God cannot be comprehended by human intellect alone. Only those he desires to reveal himself to can truly come to know him, as he is, through his Son. Let us draw near to God in faith, in lowliness and humility, and let us pray that he will reveal himself to us in this study of his attributes and glory.

Preparing Our Hearts
Invocation: Our Prayer of Acclamation

Lord, how great is our dilemma! In Thy Presence silence best becomes us, but love inflames our hearts and constrains us to speak. Were we to hold our peace the stones would cry out; yet if we speak, what shall we say? Teach us to know that we cannot know, for the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Let faith support us where reason fails, and we shall think because we believe, not in order that we may believe. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
~ KOTH, p. 6

Call to Worship
Blessed are you, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And blessed is your Kingdom, both now and forever, amen.

Praising Our God
Te Deum Laudamus 

You are God: we praise you; you are the Lord; we acclaim you; you are the eternal Father: All creation worships you. To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you. The noble fellowship of prophets praise you. The white-robed army of martyrs praise you. Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you; Father, of majesty unbounded, your true and only Son, worthy of all worship, and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the king of glory, the eternal Son of the Father. When you became man to set us free you did not shun the Virgin’s womb. You overcame the sting of death and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. You are seated at God’s right hand in glory. We believe that you will come and be our judge. Come then, Lord, and help your people, bought with the price of your own blood, and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting.

Praise and Thanksgiving (songs and prayers)

Gloria Patri

Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
Is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen, amen.

Listening to His Voice
Chronological Reading for the Day

Thursday: Mic. 6-7; 2 Chron. 32.1-8; 2 Kings 18.13-37; Isa. 36

Lectionary Readings

Psalm: Ps. 100

OT: Exod. 19.2-8a

Gospel: Matt. 9.35-10.23

NT: Rom. 5.1-8

(Click here for all readings)

Reflection: Silence and/or Journaling

Responding in Faith
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he arose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic* church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

*In the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, the term catholic refers to the Church’s universality, through all ages and times, of all languages and peoples. It refers to no particular tradition or denominational expression (e.g., as in Roman Catholic).

Prayers of Confession
Let us now confess our sins to God and receive mercy and grace to help in our time of need.

Assurance of Pardon
Having faithfully confessed and renounced your sin, Christ also has been faithful to forgive your sins and to purify you from all unrighteousness. It is certain, that there is One who has spoken to the Father in your defense, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. His grace and peace are with you now. Amen.

Petitions and Supplications, Ending with The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

~ Matthew 6.9-13 (KJV)

Doxology (and/or closing song)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Departing to Serve
Benediction 

Sovereign Father, heavenly King,
Thee we now presume to sing;
Glad thine attributes confess,
Glorious all, and numberless.
~ Charles Wesley (KOTH, p.11)

Affirmation for the Day
No one can know what God is like in himself, yet we can know through Christ what he has disclosed of himself to us.

Pray without Ceasing – Flash Prayer for the Day
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of glory, give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation as we come to know you! (Eph. 1.17).

For Your Weekly Journey

Let God Arise! Seasonal Focus
The Self-Existence of God, Exodus 3.13-15

Book Reading
Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy