Beginning with who God is

Psalm138

A psalm of David.

¹ I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;
I will sing your praises before the gods.
² I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.
I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness;
for your promises are backed
by all the honor of your name.
³ As soon as I pray, you answer me;
you encourage me by giving me strength.

⁴ Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord,
for all of them will hear your words.
⁵ Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways,
for the glory of the Lord is very great.
⁶ Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble,
but he keeps his distance from the proud.

⁷ Though I am surrounded by troubles,
you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
You reach out your hand,
and the power of your right hand saves me.
⁸ The Lord will work out his plans for my life—
for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

I love how, in eight succinct verses, so much can be packed in about the character and nature of God. God who has unfailing love and goodness – God who has all surpassing decrees – God who answers our prayer and so emboldens us – God whose glory is great – God who looks kindly on the lowly – God who keeps the proud far – God who preserves our lives in the midst of trouble – God who stretches his hand out against our foes – God whose right hand saves us – God who vindicates us – God, whose love endures forever.

One thing is clear – the psalmist spends most of his time knowing, remembering and declaring who His God is. Even in writing down a summary of these insights, I feel faith, confidence and strength rise within me.

There is such power in reminding myself of who my God is. It’s so easy to simply remind myself of all my problems, projects and needs. But David (author of the psalm), who surely would have had all of the above in truckloads, spends his time here on who God is. The powerful truth implied here is this – if you know who it is that is with you, you know who you’ve got with you for all the problems, projects and needs of life. And that changes everything. Your perceptions of the problems, the power with you for the projects, and the provision you can access for the needs. The bottom line for me is simply – don’t start with what you need to do or solve, start with who it is who is with you!

Lord, turn my life around … from starting my day, the way I pray and the way I think about life in what I need to do or solve … to starting the day with who you are. And then moving into the do and solve with you, strong in me!

Written by Ps. Rob Waugh