Hard Work and responsibility

Psalm 108

“My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul.  Awake, harp, and lyre.  I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.   For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.  Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.  God has spoken from his sanctuary: “In triumph, I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.  Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet,
Judah is my scepter.   Moab is my washbasin, on Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia, I shout in triumph.”  Who will bring me to the fortified city?  Who will lead me to Edom?  Is it not you, God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?   Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless.  With God, we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.”

I’ve often wondered what’s wrong with me when I read a Psalm like this one from King David.  In the first verse, the King is telling God I’m all in, my mind, body, and soul, you alone are God and I will give praise and worship only to You.  David tells us that every morning at the break of day, he begins with worship and praise to the one true God and that he not only does it before his people but also among the nations.

David, as a boy taking care of his father's sheep, learned lessons that are not taught to the youth of our day.  He learned about hard work and responsibility that it was his duty to protect his father's business.   In that David was alone at night with the sheep, his job was to keep them safe from all predators.   David had I’m sure, witnessed the power of a bear and lion and knew it was God who had helped him fight and kill the ones that came to get the sheep.  He had no problem with God’s immutable character or Him being sovereign.  He also understood how God had allotted the tribes of Jacob’s portions of land, and David realized that without God, they were in a mess.

We in the USA would be wise to once more not look to others for a coalition but to God before entering into a battle.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice