Your Right Hand (Psalm 44:1-8)

¹ We have heard it with our ears, O God;
our ancestors have told us
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.
² With your hand you drove out the nations
and planted our ancestors;
you crushed the peoples
and made our ancestors flourish.
³ It was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face, for you loved them.

⁴ You are my King and my God,
who decrees victories for Jacob.
⁵ Through you we push back our enemies;
through your name we trample our foes.
⁶ I put no trust in my bow,
my sword does not bring me victory;
⁷ but you give us victory over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.
⁸ In God we make our boast all day long,
and we will praise your name forever.

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What stands out for me in this part of the psalm is how all the credit for victory goes to God.  The psalmist speaks of the military victories of the past.  Victory comes not through the sword of the bow, but through the Lord who “decrees victories” for His people.  Therefore His people boast in His name and praise Him.

What does this mean for us whose lives are not marked by military struggles against flesh and blood enemies?  The same principle applies: To God be the glory for it all.  Following the example of this psalm, we can give God the credit for all the blessings that, in the eyes of the world, we have earned through our prowess and effort.  It’s not by my business success that I’ve achieved a promotion.  It’s not by my intelligence that I completed the degree.  It’s not by my cleverness that I’ve succeeded in this or that endeavor.

Now on the one hand, these things are accomplished through our gifts, talents and efforts.  But this psalm puts me in mind of Deuteronomy 8:17-18.  “You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”  Since all of our gifts and our very life itself are from the Lord, and since His hand His holding us at all times in ways we can’t even begin to imagine, we are bound to ultimately praise Him for all blessings.  “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”

So my prayer today is one of thanksgiving.  I’m meditating especially on things that I take for granted, as well as things that I’m prone to view as earned by my own efforts or cleverness.  I praise the Lord for the life He has given me, the gifts with which He has endowed me, and the blessings that He continues to pour on me through that life and those gifts.  To God be the glory!

 NOTE:

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