Power Belongs To Our God
2010-05-27

Thursday morning. This week is going very slowly. Today, I will be submitting more job apps while I continue to wait for the library to call me. I have to submit some applications to satisfy requirements for unemployment benefits. So I'll put in at least two today.

Father, I pray for the strength to wait silently for you as you said to me yesterday. I will not complain or whine about anything, including how much I want the library to call. It's your timing and your plan. I will wait for it.


Psalm 62:9-12

9 Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. 10 Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them. 11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, 12 and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.

Neither rich nor poor people are more than a breath in the grand scheme of things. We all die the same. We are all "lighter than a breath." Notice that riches aren't bad, but we are instructed not to set our hearts on them if they should increase. Power and steadfast love belong to our God.

"David shows us how futile it is to place too much emphasis on human accomplishment. Why? Because all people, regardless of rank or position, are 'but a breath.'" The real power and reward in life belong to God and God alone.
(Quote from A Musician Looks At the Psalms, by Don Wyrtzen)


Ephesians 6:18a

praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

From Matthew Henry Daily Readings

"There are other duties of religion, and of our stations in the world, but we must keep up times of prayer. Though set and solemn prayer may not be seasonable when other duties are to be done, yet short pious prayers darted out, always are so. We must use holy thoughts in our ordinary course. A vain heart will be vain in prayer. We must pray with all kinds of prayer, public, private, and secret; social and solitary; solemn and sudden: with all the parts of prayer; confession of sin, petition for mercy, and thanksgiving for favors received. And we must do it by the grace of God the Holy Spirit, in dependence on, and according to, his teaching."

There is some very difficult stuff here. "We must use holy thoughts in our ordinary course. A vain heart will be vain in prayer." Wow!! The impact of those two statements on me this morning is stunning! To think that my thoughts throughout the day can have an effect on the efficiency of my prayers? Have we seriously contemplated that? I'm not sure I have! This is something I'm going to have to seriously meditate on. Obviously, my thoughts are not consistently holy. But they should be. Realistically, they probably can't be holy 24/7. But we can monitor our thoughts a little better than we do, I dare say. I won't presume to speak for anyone else. I know I could do a much better job of it. I'm going to go look for some sackcloth now...


Quick prayer...Father, I lift up Kim Knight who just posted an unspoken prayer request on Facebook. Whatever her need is, I pray that you meet it quickly.

There's an interesting discussion in today's Tabletalk reading about the difference between "intentional sin" and "high-handed sin." You see, the sin offering (or purification offering) in Leviticus only covered sins of ignorance or omission. "High-handed" sins were not covered by any sacrifice. What is a high-handed sin? "A high-handed sin is one a professing believer commits boldly and defiantly, not caring about the consequences and feeling no guilt about it once committed. It is a sin people commit fearlessly as they shake their fists, literally or figuratively, at the Lord." While a high-handed sin is always intentional, intentional sins are not always high-handed. "The truly converted will not commit high-handed sins, though they may commit sins of intention, albeit only after and during a struggle against the flesh (Rom 7:7-25)."

This is good stuff. I have struggled in the past about the fact that there was no sacrifice in the Mosaic law that dealt with intentional sin. Even though I know in my heart that that Law doesn't apply to my sins, and they are erased by the sacrifice of my Savior on the cross. I appreciate the ministry of Tabletalk Magazine and the good, meaty writing that they bring. It's always worthy of chewing on.


Father, I thank you for the teaching you have brought to me today. I thank you that, even though I do sin, and yes, it is usually intentional, it is always following a difficult struggle with the flesh, and I feel the guilt afterwards, and am immediately repentant. If there were no evidence of Christ or the Holy Spirit in my life, these things would not be true. I pray that you would ever increase my desire to be holy, as you are holy.

I also pray for holier thoughts throughout the day. I have never entertained this possibility that thoughts all through the day could have that much of an impact on my prayer life. I should have, because I know that the way I am thinking during the day can contribute much anger to my state of mind. Or it can contribute to a state of peace. I'm praying for more peace. I want to have effective prayers. I want to live a life of praying constantly, just darting out prayers during the day, as Matthew Henry suggests. But if I'm entertaining less than holy thoughts, that kind of existence is not possible. I know it's a process and isn't going to happen overnight, but I pray for it, nonetheless.

And Father, I pray that I will never again be envious of another's accomplishments in this life. The futility of this is obvious. Let me not place undue emphasis on human accomplishment, as we are all lighter than a breath.

I feel good, today, Lord. I'm grateful for this time. Thank you.


How do we look at others? Are we jealous of their accomplishments? Their money? Do we pray "without ceasing?" Or do we secretly swear at people in traffic, thereby impeding the effectiveness of our prayers? Points to ponder...

Grace and peace, friends.



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