Friday, September 13, 2013

Give God the Glory

Psalm 75:2 - You say, “I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge with equity.
God says I am the one (no one else, not your boss, or anyone else) who chooses the appointed time. God has already preordained a time for every blessing in our life and God’s timing is the best. God judges with equity and decides what blessing and when.

Psalm 75: 3 - When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm.
When things seem unstable and out of control, the person who holds it all together is God. Every blessing we have in our life is from God. Every stability, every good thing (even the ones we don’t notice and take for granted), come from God. I could go on in length about how much and how undeserved God’s blessings are but the main point here is – EVERY blessing, every stability in our life is from God alone. Just as He says – It is I who hold its pillars firm.

Psalm 75: 4 - To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns.
Every time we decide to take any credit for any blessing in our life, we are being arrogant. Every time we don’t give God the glory, we are lifting up our own horns. Horns – Used for proclamation, For making noise to draw attention. I can either lift my own horn and draw the attention to myself or lift God’s horn and draw the attention to God and proclaim God and His Goodness. This verse calls those who lift their own horns and not God’s horn as arrogant and wicked.

Psalm 75: 5 - Do not lift your horns against heaven; do not speak so defiantly.’ ”
Crystal clear, DO NOT lift your horns. And when we blow our own horns we are doing it against heaven. And we are doing so, defiantly. Whatever our intentions maybe, this is what the Bible says we do when we don’t give God the Glory, when we don’t lift up God’s horn.

Psalm 75: 6 - No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt themselves.
Only God is the reason for the blessings, honour, stability in our lives. No one else, no matter how high ranking or how loving or good. Everything comes from God. Consider the fact that there are others who work as hard as us, if not more and yet we are blessed. The truth is that it’s not what we do, but what God does. That does not mean we do nothing. We do our best, trusting God and his timing in our lives. And we learn that everything we have is from God and learn that the wise thing is to give God the glory. To life up God’s horn.

Psalm 75: 7 - It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.
Re-iterating the fact that whatever blessing or honour or stability we have in our life is only because of God.

Psalm 75: 9 - As for me, I will declare this forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,
David knew this secret and made sure he gave God the Glory in everything. From a shepherd to a king, God knew he could trust this guy and lavish His blessing on David, and that David would definitely give God the Glory and lift up God’s horn. David was always declaring God’s Goodness and Praising God. David was someone who was constantly meditating on God’s Goodness. It looks like he was looking for new ways to glorify God. It’s like his brain constantly was thinking – In what else, can I glorify God? What else can I thank God for? Who else can I tell about the Goodness of God to? I can imagine him having a conversation with someone and thinking in his head – How can I bring God into this conversation and glorify Him and talk about His Goodness?  In Psalm 77: 11 and 12 David says - I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”  In order to effectively give God glory for everything, David has his mind meditating on all that God had done for him. Thinking of all the blessings from long ago.

Psalm 75: 10 - who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”
The horns of the wicked will be cut off. But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up !!! Those who blow God’s horns, will be exalted and honoured. They will find more and more in their lives to praise and testify about. God will be able to trust them knowing, the more I bless this person, the more this person will lift Me up. Declaring God’s Goodness and finding out ways to do them keeps us grateful and happy and also opens ways (new and more) for God to lift Himself us through us.