“I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
Psalms 86:12-13
Psalms written by David have a way of really cutting through.
David was a man greatly blessed by God who leaned on God for strength, except when he didn’t. Maybe that is why his words are so impactful. He knew what it was like to rest in God, and he knew what it was like to tragically fail. He knew what it was like to rejoice in God’s good gifts, and he knew what it was like to cry out to God for relief.
When David says, “I will glorify your name forever,” I know that he meant it and that he also failed at it. David knew God’s steadfast love in good and bad times. He experienced what it was like to despair and to be delivered by God.
David rejoices here that God delivered his “soul from the depths of Sheol.” The depths of the grave. God had both literally delivered David from death and figuratively delivered his soul by comforting him in the deep pains of his life.
Sometimes, when I read passages like this, I think of my failures and how I fail to be thankful to God.
It is important to remember that David also failed. This commitment by David is an aspirational commitment. He actively sought to glorify God. It is a commitment that withstands despite the times when he did not glorify God.
We should remember this when we aren’t feeling thankful and when our whole heart fails, or even refuses, to glorify God. God’s love is steadfast. His love transcends our weakness. He knew we would fail, as He knows we will fail again. Yet, He loves us anyway.
A Quote to Consider:
“America’s idealization of the self-made man–one who succeeds by his own wit and industriousness without advantages conferred by either a privileged family background or formal education–did not easily accommodate respect for those who devoted their lives to teaching and learning. “Those who can, do; and those who can’t, teach” is an adage that would have seemed ridiculous to Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the hiring of a school teacher was one of the two fundamental markers of civilization in frontier communities (the other being the presence of a minister.)”
–Susan Jacoby, The Age of American Unreason
I’ve long loved this quote. But pairing it with the verse above has allowed me to think of it in a new light. I’ve never thought about this quote in relation to God, or more specifically, in relation to Jesus, the Good Teacher.
I have also never thought of this quote in relation to David. In modern secular terms, David would be the ultimate self-made man. He was the young shepherd who became a war hero and eventually king. Of course, through scripture, we know that he wasn’t self-made. David was God-made. He owed his great success to God.
David was someone who could “do,” but his most enduring impact in the world is what he has taught millions of people through his Psalms and through the lessons learned because of the failures in his life.
Maybe there was something profound to the frontier perspective, which saw teachers and ministers as fundamental markers of civilization. Both teach, though in different ways. One teachers young people the basic skills and knowledge needed to function and succeed in our world. The other teaches adults to live in light of their faith in God.
Maybe these two professions reflect Jesus well. After all, He spent the last several years of His life teaching, and that has profoundly impacted the world.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus,
Forgive my pride and selfish ambition. Teach me to have Your mind, to love others more deeply, and to seek their good above my own. Make me less like the world and more like You.
In your name,
Amen.
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