Highest In Our Thoughts

"To grorify God is to set God highest in our thoughts, and to have a venerable esteem of Him. Psa. xcii 8. 'Thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.' Psa. xcii9. 'Thou art exalted far above all gods.' There is in God all that may draw forth both wonder and delight; there is a constellation of all beauties; he is prima causa, the original and springhead of being, who sheds a glory upon the creature. We glorify God, when we are God-admirers; admire His attributes, which are the glistering beams by which the divine nature shines forth; His promises which are the charter of free grace, and the spiritual cabinet where the pearl of price is hid; the noble effects of his power and wisdom in making the world, which is called 'the work of His fingers.' Psa. viii3. To glorify God is to have God-admiring thoughts; to esteem Him most excellent, and search for diamonds in this rock only."

-Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity, pg. 7.

To many, the idea of setting God 'highest in our thoughts' is but a pitiful maudlin that serves to boost our self-esteem. But it is painfully obvious that Thomas Watson's assessment of what it means to glorify God is not a 'you can do it' encouragement, but stunning rebuke of the depravity in the human heart, for we do not esteem Him as we ought. It displays our need of Him.
Behind all our ideas and affections, God must be preeminent; His superiority must ultimately presupposed. God's glory radiates when all our conducts find their end in Him. However, the reality is that we 'search for diamonds' in other rocks, which are ultimately inadequate; we find no diamonds in them, only filth. We constantly run to destructive idols. The remedy for our straying is in God who renews us and sanctifies us, and ultimately glorifies us that we may never again stray from Him. May God grant His people to 'draw forth both wonder and delight' in Himself. Endless beauty.