Tuesday, February 11, 2020

The Names of God - The Glory of Their Strength


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.