Thursday 25 July 2013

Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. – Psalm 115:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 25, 2013): Psalm 115

I am seriously conflicted about awards that we give to each other. I mean, I understand the reason why we do it. To give an award; or to chase after an award, is always a good motivator. Even a lot of children will work harder for silver or gold star that lurks at the end of the road. But on the other side of the equation I also struggle with the current “everybody wins” strategy in children’s athletics. It seems that “everybody wins” only promotes mediocrity. And as much as we say that “everybody wins” promotes fun, I have to admit that as a kid I wanted a winner and a loser – even though most of the time I ended up on the losing side of the equation. I guess it was just my competitive nature that made me want to get better – at whatever it was that I was doing. And in this my conflict is revealed. For me, neither option really seems to work.

Life seems to be about winners and losers. I see it all around me. People either win or they lose. It seems to be one of the constants of our existence. But another constant of our existence is that while we may lose alone, we rarely win alone. Whenever we win there is usually a list of people that are standing with us. And for the Christian, we also recognize the role that God in our lives – and in our wins.

This Psalm seems to have been written after a time of national defeat and despair. The nation was vulnerable, and the Psalmist knew it. Three possibilities seem to have been raised about the possible time of national emergency and the composition of the Psalm. One is immediately following the defeat in which the good King Josiah was killed, and with Josiah’s death the hopes and dreams of the nation also died. A second possibility is following the first conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and the last possibility was during the early days of Judah’s return from captivity in Babylon. But whichever situation it was, the only way out of it was going to be if the people of Judah could learn to come together – and if they could put their full trust in their God. If they could not do both of these things, no win would be realized - and no award would be given.

When so much of the good that we do is because of the way we work together – and the way that we allow God to move through us, that it hardly seems fair to accept an award for the things that we get right. The Psalmist would seem to agree as he writes the words “Not to us but to your Name be the glory.” And for the Christian, I am convinced that the motive to get better should never be for the recognition that we might get out of the situation, but rather because we want to be the best that we can be in honor of our God. But in these situations we also have to come the realization that the win – and the award  - really belong to him.   


Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 116 & 117

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