S.O.A.P. 3 (Psalms 54, Ezekiel 34 – 39)
Scripture
Ps 54:1 – 2
Save me, O God, by your name;
Vindicate me by your might.
Hear my prayer, O God;
Listen to the words of my mouth.
Eze 36:22 – 23
Therefore say to the house of Israel, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.”
Eze 39:7
I will make known my name among my people of Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel.
Observation
David calls on God to save him by His name and vindicate him by His might. At the same time, David cries out to God that his prayers would be heard and his petitions be accepted by God. Throughout David’s lifetime, he faced assaults and plots against him. Before he became king of Israel, he fled from a murderous Saul, and he lived in exile in the land of others nations. After he became king, he led the nation to battle against the surrounding hostile nations, he lived in fear of the constant attempts at his life, he experienced betrayal by his most trusted circle of friends, his officials plotted and conspired against him day after day. He cried out to God. He petitioned before Him. He pleaded for deliverance and freedom from his enemies. He implored for justice and vindication against his oppressors and his conspirators. And God heard him and rescued him from his foes, those who sought his life. He delivered him from the hands of the hostile nations and upheld him with His right hand.
Despite constantly faced with dangers and perils, David broke through them all. He was Israel’s greatest king because God was with him, delivered him and glorified him. But why was that so? It was because David gave glory to the name of the Lord.
Ezekiel’s prophecy to Israel gives us a clear picture of God’s purposes for doing what He does. The Lord spoke through Ezekiel, “it is not for your sake, house of Israel…but for the sake of my holy name”. God does the things that He does so that His holy name may be praised among all the nations. The Israelites at that point of time clearly had a wrong conception of the Lord, seeing Him as one who gave them blessings because He was obliged to do so, or because they were a special people unto the Lord. The view of their status as a holy nation, set apart unto the Lord, made them arrogant and proud. There were even false prophets who lived among them, who wrongly used the Lord’s name to speak false prophecies and visions. They claimed that Jerusalem will have peace (Eze 13:10) even in light of the coming Babylonian invasion, because they were so confident of their status as a special people and that God would not allow the army of Babylon to invade and overtake them. In other words, God was obliged to keep them safe because they were special to God. But in the end, disaster engulfed them and the Israelites were either carried off to exile or killed by sword, plague or famine.
But what happened? Before this, we saw that the Lord delivered David from disasters and calamities. Why not the Israelites in Ezekiel’s day?
One of the reasons would be their failure to realise the glory of God and his name. Rather than be saved by the name of God, they relied on their own military power. They failed to realise that all the blessings that had been given to them came from the Lord for the glory of the name of God. They blasphemed the name of the Lord by speaking false visions and prophecies, and profaned His name by their idolatry and vile practices. They exalted their idolatrous ways while hanging onto the blessings of God, as though God’s blessings were given for their glory, rather than His. But the truth is, God kept the Israelites for Himself, that His name may by praised among all nations.
But still, God saved the Israelites from exile. He rebuilt the nation of Israel and resumed His blessings to them. But this was done not merely for their sake, but that His name may be exalted among all nations, that all people will know that He is the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. He restored their fortunes, brought them back to the calm pasturelands, revived their strength, and re-established them as a nation so that His name may be acknowledged by all the nations, so that people will know that the Lord is good, faithful, mighty and strong and they will all fear and revere Him.
Application
Most often in our lives, we are like the Israelites in Ezekiel’s days. We think that all that we have achieved, our successes, our wealth, our position are given for our sake. But the truth is, God gave all of these to us for the glory of His name.
One of the most common misconceptions of Jesus’ death for our sins is that He gave it all for us. But Jesus’ prayer in John 17:1 reminds us that Jesus’ main concern was that He may give glory to the Father. The first thing that he prayed for at the Mount of Olives is that the name of God may be glorified! How often do we miss that important point!
When Jesus taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer, the first point He made was: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Even in the first line of the prayer, Jesus gave glory to the Father. He did not ask for blessings or offer up petitions before God, but he prayed that that name of the Lord may be exalted.
We are beings who like to glorify ourselves. When we achieve good grades in school or university, when we gain success in our businesses, or even when we get a pat in the back for delivering a good message or testimony in front of the congregation, we feel good about ourselves. We are tempted to think, ‘Yes! Of course this success could not have been possible without my involvement’ or ‘I deserve this, after all, I’m smart and better than all of them’ or even ‘Yea, check me out. Now that the congregation loves me, I’ll definitely have a sweet time at church’. Many times, all we think of is ourselves. We think of what the success means to us, we think of how to further our achievements, we think of ways to make other people recognise our accomplishments.
But how often do we give glory to God? How often do we think, ‘Yes God, I thank you for speaking through me. I pray that your words will convict the people that they will glorify your name.’ or perhaps ‘Thank you, Lord for giving me the H1 and H2A in my exams that all people will know that you have given me all of this and praise you for your goodness.’ How often do we take the time to reflect on how our achievements have brought glory to God’s name? Or how often do we think about how God can continue to use us despite our weaknesses to achieve something that brings praises to Him?
Even when serving in church, among God’s people, there are times when we think of how the way we play the guitar, or how our writings, or how our effective cell group leadership has enabled us to be recognised among people. But often, we do not think of how our achievements encourage or challenge the congregation that it will bring glory to God’s name. I, too, sometimes tend to ponder about how the achievements have benefitted me, and how my gifts of intelligence and writing have enabled me to be known by the people rather than praise God for my gifts and reflect on how my gifts have brought glory to His name.
But the reality of things is this. God’s gives us everything that we have so that we may bring glory to His name, not for our sakes but for the sake of His holy name. He gives us the gifts and opportunities in our lives that we may use them to bless and serve others, so that they too may praise and exalt His name. Hence, it is truly essential that we take a few moments before setting out to accomplish what we hope for, while carrying out the task that we have set out to perform and after gripping success in our hands to just ponder about how our achievements bring glory to God’s name or lead people to give praises to Him. All that we do is for His glory alone, not ours.
Prayer
Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Today, I just want to lift up my praises to honour and to exalt your holy name. Let everything that I do today echo your glory. Let all my achievements and accomplishments lead others to praise you and to stand in awe of you. Let not my pride and arrogance lead me to think that my blessings are for me alone. Let not my selfish nature deify myself in the midst of others for my gifts and successes, because all of them come from you for your glory. And I commit all that I have into your hands, for the glory of your holy and mighty name. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment