Monday Reflection – August 16, 2021 All to God’s Glory

Monday Reflection – August 16, 2021All to God’s Glory

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. Psalm 115:1
Christians face many tests of varying kinds and degrees. Some of our tests search the heart, trying to detect our highest pursuits. Though some of our tests are often subtle, this is the scheme of the enemy who seeks to set us up for destruction. In today’s Watchword, the Psalmist boldly zooms in on the crux of the matter – either we are living for God or for ourselves. If we do not live for God, then we make ourselves a serious target for the forces of the devil that are always trying to compromise our heart’s affection. We usually think only of life’s testings which centre on more superficial areas of our lives, such as our jobs, careers, and family. They are there for sure, but the testing of our heart lies underneath those and therefore becomes more critical. This testing is continuous, as God regularly tests our hearts to see our true affections and who or what takes priority in our lives.
The Psalmist understands that when God does wonderful things, the glory should be given to God – not to God’s people (not unto us), even if they are in some sense active in the work. The glory should go to God and His holy name. Charles Spurgeon indicates that, “The repetition of the words, ‘Not to us,’ would seem to indicate a very serious desire to renounce any glory which they might at any time have proudly appropriated to themselves…” We must remain diligent in recognizing that pride and haughtiness have a way of creeping up on us until they consume us. The devil has a way of sporting with us by sending subtle temptations our way, trying to persuade us that our success is due to our wisdom and strength. He desperately tries to detach us from our devotion to God. Satan has a multitude of ways to lead us to self-worship and is an expert in this field, having himself left the worship of God to seek his glory. Each of us has a flesh, a self-willed nature, which loves revelling in ourselves. Thus, Satan may shift our trust from God to our own successful ways. We go from praising God on how He answered prayers to gloating that we are pretty good Christians, especially compared to others. We walk around profiling and announcing what we have done and the successes that we have achieved. When we forget or confuse the source of God’s work in our lives, pride takes root.
So many times we start out well, but when success seems real we begin to trust our strength and serve our glory. The Lord’s grace then begins to recede. He allows us to work from our energies, increasingly in frustration and desperation. We turn from admiring God’s grace to wanting to receive flattering remarks. What people think of us become more important than true concern for the Lord or others that we serve. As believers, we begin our Christian lives by openly stating that Jesus is our Saviour and Lord. We commit to live for God’s glory! May we never forget that the root of our success is the Lord. All the glory goes to God because he is at the root of anything that we call success. This Psalmist reminds us that it is all because of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. Any good that we do is only because of God’s gracious work within us, so all we do ought to be to God’s glory.
Paul understands this well and admonishes us in today’s New Testament text in Romans 12:3: “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment.”
Jermaine Gibson