“In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel. His abode has been established in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion. There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused? From the heavens you uttered judgment; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to establish judgment, to save all the humble of the earth. Make your vows to the Lord your God and perform them; let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared, who cuts off the spirit of princes, who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.” (v1-3,7-9,11-12)
This Psalm is fairly straight-forward – it proclaims the greatness of God, the vanquisher of enemies and redeemer of His people.
This Psalm reads quite a bit like the twenty-four elders’ chant after the seventh trumpet sounds: ” ‘We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.’ ” (Rev 11:17-18)
In both of these passages God conquers the conquerors and judges those who judge, giving rewards to His servants and destroying the destroyers. In both of these passages, the key to being saved or rewarded is to remain fearful (respectful and honor-giving) of God, serving Him alone. Those who serve themselves or the “lord of the air” (Satan) will not withstand God’s wrath and judgement.
Scriptures are quite clear that humility out of true love and respect for God will be rewarded by His favor (not because we are trying to earn His favor, because that would be false humility and He can tell the difference, we can never earn anything from God for all we earned was death).
“Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (Js 4:10) “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time…” (1 Pt 5:6) “The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor and life.” (Pr 22:4) “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:4)
Father God, we recognize our strength is not our own, and we cry out to You for deliverance from ourselves and the temporary lord of this world. On our own we cannot hope to earn anything from You – please teach us to be humble, acknowledging that we were sinners who were in desperate need of Your salvation. Please Lord help us to remain thankful each and every day, giving You all glory for every blessing and for every lesson learned. Even in difficult times, if we submit those struggles to You, knowing that You are there with us, we can remain rooted in Your strength. Father, we wish to remain humble, since we know You are God and we are not, and we will try to fully rely on You in all circumstances, since we lack the infinite wisdom and discernment You alone possess. Thank you Father.
~ Conqueror in Training