The Glory of Their
Strength
Psalm
89:15-17 (ESV)
Blessed
are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the
light of your face, who exult in your name all the day and in your
righteousness are exalted. For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted.
Everything presented to
our senses is filtered through our experiences. Our brains are
programmed to view our world (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) a
certain way from data we have collected during our life. You know
when you see a small black animal with a white stripe down its back
that you need to run the opposite way. The scar on the tip of the
finger is a reminder not to touch a hot skillet or glowing ember.
These are static experiences that will always be true. The ones that
cause us the most grief are the encounters with other people because
the responses are so varied based on the experiences of the other
person.
We call this
pre-programmed response to people “prejudice,” which usually has
a negative connotation because it means, “to prejudge.” Your
senses give you a narrative of what another person is like before you
even hear a single word from their mouth or observe a single action.
We do this out of reflex based our previous experience.
Others do the same thing
with us. We know who we are and totally understand our motives, but
others do not. Occasionally, my wife and I will go to a place (store,
restaurant, recreation area, etc.) and are amazed that it is crowded.
We exclaim, “We know why we are here, but why are all of these
other people here?” The truth is, each of us do this every time we
encounter another human. “I know what I'm doing, but what are they
doing?”
As children we are taught
to fear the stranger. We are instructed to “be careful” when
attempting even the most menial task. As we grow we encounter
“bullies” or “mean girls” that wreak havoc on our
self-esteems and cause us to begin digging the foundation for the
walls we will construct over a lifetime of experiences. However,
there is a different way!
The psalmist that penned
Psalm 89 knew something about the character of mankind and found a
remedy for the dreadful predisposition toward pre-judged actions
based on experience. It requires conscious effort, but the rewards
are worth every bit of energy expended. Look at his words again:
Blessed
are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the
light of your face, who exult in your name all the day and in your
righteousness are exalted. For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted.
God created you to have
interaction with those around you in a good way. When we know the
“festal shout,” or as the King James Version says, “joyful
sound,” it becomes a new point of reference for us. The affect of
God's love and forgiveness in our life allows us to erase many of the
life experiences that cause us pain and allows us to see others with
a fresh perspective. We can see them as God created them, not what
their life-choices has created.
When we “walk in the
light of Your (the Lord's) face” we can trust in the “glory of
their (those who know the festal shout) strength,” which is the
Spirit of God abiding in us. God's Spirit is the great “neutralizer”
when it comes to human encounters. Through Him we can love the
unlovable, enjoy peace with warmongers, and live a life of freedom
because of the righteousness given to us through salvation in Christ.
This is not a panacea. It is the reality of the life reconciled to
God.
If Christians- those
transformed from darkness to light, from death to life, from
hopelessness to faith - do not reflect this “glory of their
strength” then the world we touch will be unaffected by the
sacrifice of Jesus. We must allow the reverberation of the “festal
shout” that changed us to be heard by everyone we have opportunity
to engage. Let us be intentional in our transparency so the “light
from His face” will be seen instead of our own prejudice or fear.
We do this by remaining in
the posture of those who “exult in Your (the Lord's) name all the
day.” It's a choice we must make. As we do, God will meet us there
with grace.
