Exalt God Above All

Order, both in nature and in human life, depends upon
right relationships; to achieve harmony each thing must be in its proper
position relative to each other thing. That’s why it is so essential
for God to have His proper place in our lives. When He does not,
everything is out of order.

We are right when, and only when, we stand in a right
position relative to God, and we are wrong so far and so long as we
stand in any other position.

So let us begin with God. Back of all, above all, before
all is God; first in sequential order, above in rank and station,
exalted in dignity and honor. As the self-existent One He gave being to
all things, and all things exist out of Him and for Him. “Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast
created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created”
(Rev. 4:11, KJV).

Every soul belongs to God and exists by His pleasure. God
being who and what He is, and we being who and what we are, the only
thinkable relation between us is one of full lordship on His part and
complete submission on ours. We owe Him every honor that is in our power
to give Him. Our everlasting grief lies in giving Him anything less.

The pursuit of God will embrace the labor of bringing our
total personality into conformity to His. I do not here refer to the act
of justification by faith in Christ. I speak of a voluntary exalting of
God to His proper station over us and a willing surrender of our whole
being to the place of worshipful submission that the Creatorcreature
circumstance makes proper.

The moment we make up our minds that we are going on with
this determination to exalt God over all, we step out of the world’s
parade. We shall find ourselves out of adjustment to the ways of the
world and increasingly so as we make progress in the holy way. We shall
acquire a new viewpoint; a new psychology will be formed within us; a
new power will begin to surprise us by its upsurgings and its outgoings.

Our break with the world will be the direct outcome of our
changed relation to God. For the world of fallen men does not honor
God. Millions call themselves by His name, it is true, and pay some
token respect to Him, but a simple test will show how little He is
really honored among them.

Let the average man be put to the proof on the question of
who or what is above, and his true position will be exposed. Let him be
forced into making a choice between God and money, between God and man,
between God and personal ambition, God and self, God and human love,
and God will take second place every time. Those other things will be
exalted above. However the man may protest, the proof is in the choices
he makes day after day throughout his life.

“Be exalted, O Lord” (Ps. 21:13, NKJV) is the language of
victorious spiritual experience. It is a little key to unlock the door
to great treasures of grace. It is central in the life of God in the
soul.

Let the seeking man reach a place where life and lips join
to say continually “Be exalted, O Lord,” and a thousand minor problems
will be solved at once. His Christian life ceases to be the complicated
thing it had been before and becomes the very essence of simplicity. By
the exercise of his will he has set his course, and on that course he
will stay as if guided by an automatic pilot.

Let no one imagine that he will lose anything of human
dignity by this voluntary sell-out of his all to God. His deep disgrace
lay in his unnatural usurpation of the place of God. His honor will be
proved by restoring again that stolen throne. In exalting God over all
he finds his own highest honor upheld.

Anyone who might feel reluctant to surrender his will to
the will of another should remember Jesus’ words, “Whoever commits sin
is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). We must of necessity be servant to
someone, either to God or to sin.

The sinner prides himself on his independence, completely
overlooking the fact that he is the weak slave of the sins that rule his
members. The man who surrenders to Christ exchanges a cruel slave
driver for a kind and gentle Master whose yoke is easy and whose burden
is light.

I hope it is clear that there is a logic behind God’s
claim to preeminence. That place is His by every right in earth or
heaven. While we take to ourselves the place that is His, the whole
course of our lives is out of joint. Nothing will or can restore order
till our hearts make the great decision: God shall be exalted above.

“Those who honor Me I will honor” (1 Sam. 2:30), God said
once to a priest of Israel, and that ancient law of the kingdom stands
today unchanged by the passing of time or the changes of dispensation.
The whole Bible and every page of history proclaim the perpetuation of
that law.

“If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor,” (John
12:26), Jesus said, tying in the old with the new and revealing the
essential unity of His ways with men.

Sometimes the best way to see a thing is to look at its
opposite. Eli and his sons are placed in the priesthood with the
stipulation that they honor God in their lives and ministrations. They
fail to do this, and God sends Samuel to announce the consequences.

Unknown to Eli, this law of reciprocal honor has been all
the while secretly working, and now the time has come for judgment to
fall. Hophni and Phineas, the degenerate priests, fall in battle; the
wife of Hophni dies in childbirth; Israel flees before her enemies; the
ark of God is captured by the Philistines; and the old man Eli falls
backward and dies of a broken neck. Thus stark, utter tragedy followed
upon Eli’s failure to honor God.

Now over against this set almost any Bible character who
honestly tried to glorify God in his earthly walk. See how God winked at
weakness and overlooked failures as He poured upon His servants grace
and blessing untold. Let it be Abraham, Jacob, David, Daniel, Elijah or
whom you will; honor followed honor as harvest the seed.

The man of God set his heart to exalt God above all; God
accepted his intention as fact and acted accordingly. Not perfection,
but holy intention made the difference.

In our Lord Jesus Christ this law was seen in simple
perfection. In His lowly manhood He humbled Himself and gladly gave all
glory to His Father in heaven. He sought not His own honor but the honor
of God who sent Him.

“If I honor Myself,” He said on one occasion, “My honor is
nothing. It is My Father who honors Me” (John 8:54). So far had the
Pharisees departed from this law that they could not understand one who
honored God at his own expense. “I honor My Father,” Jesus said to them,
“and you dishonor Me” (v. 49).

Another saying of Jesus, and a most disturbing one, was
put in the form of a question. “How can you believe, who receive honor
from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only
God?” (John 5:44). If I understand this correctly, Christ taught here
the alarming doctrine that the desire for honor among men made belief
impossible.

Is this sin at the root of religious unbelief? I believe
it may be. The whole course of life is upset by failure to put God where
He belongs. We exalt ourselves instead of God, and the curse follows.

In our desire after God let us keep always in mind that
God also has desire, and His desire is toward the sons of men, and more
particularly toward those sons of men who will make the once-for-all
decision to exalt Him over all. Such as these are precious to God above
all treasures of earth or sea.

In them God finds a theater where He can display His
exceeding kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. With them God can walk
unhindered; toward them He can act like the God He is.

In speaking thus I have one fear: that I may convince the
mind before God can win the heart. For this God-above-all position is
one not easy to take. The mind may approve it while not having the
consent of the will to put it into effect.

Though the imagination races ahead to honor God, the will
may lag behind, and the man must make the decision before the heart can
know any real satisfaction. God wants the whole person, and He will not
rest till He gets us in entirety.

Let us pray over this in detail, throwing ourselves at
God’s feet and meaning everything we say. Let’s ask God today to be
exalted over our possessions, our friendships, our comforts, our
reputations. Let’s ask Him to take His proper place of honor above our
ambitions, our likes and dislikes, our family, our health and even life
itself.

No one who prays thus in sincerity need wait long for
tokens of divine acceptance. God will unveil His glory before His
servant’s eyes, and He will place all His treasures at the disposal of
such a one, for He knows that His honor is safe in consecrated hands.

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) was pastor of Southside Alliance
Church in Chicago for 31 years. He also was the author of more than 40
books, including Faith Beyond Reason; Man: The Dwelling Place of God and The Knowledge of the Holy. Adapted from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, copyright © 1993. Published by Christian Publications. Used by permission.