Psalm 115:1–Daily Scripture Reading and Meditation

Posted by Seth on Nov 17, 2009 in Bible Study, Daily Devotions |

Psalm 115:1–Daily Scripture Reading and Meditation

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Welcome to today’s Daily Scripture Reading and Meditation covering Psalm 115:1 wherein we observe what a God glorifying prayer looks like and discover why such does indeed glorify Him.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

This is an appeal to God that is probably made far too infrequently. We may have the Christianese down that addresses the glory issue, specifically, that God would be glorified through our lives, and this is a wonderful prayer. But the psalmist here is making a request that goes beyond that. He is essentially asking God to praise Himself for the sake of or because of the fact that He is a God of enduring love and faithfulness. The inference here, assuming that God is pleased with the request of this writer that He inspired, is that God loves His glory. In considering this, it would be odd to think that God in some way would respond to such a prayer with a remark such as, “Aw shucks; really?! You shouldn’t have.” Instead, according to God’s nature, the perfection of His attributes and the exercise of them, there exists a call for such an appeal. In looking ahead just two verses, we are reminded that He does all that He pleases which then helps us to understand that the call here for God to glorify His name is in complete accord with what He loves. Furthermore, He is being held in contrast to the idols that the rest of the chapter describes, the statues that “have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see” (V. 5). There is nothing truly glorious about them. Knowing this then and putting ourselves in the psalmist’s shoes, we might say in our own words, “Look Lord, You’re incredible and nobody holds a candle to You, so lavish yourself with glory; only You deserve it!”

It’s difficult for us to see things that clearly in the midst of our daily struggles and desires. We tend to have that secret desire for just a bit of glory, a touch of praise, someone to boast over us. And it’s not that those desires are off base in every way, it’s just that we often want them at the wrong time and from the wrong individuals. We want it all now, usually from our fellow man, instead of patiently looking ahead to the day of hearing from our King at the conclusion of this stage, “Well done.” It would be a great help to us to preface our prayers with the opening words of this author: Not to us, O Lord, not to us… What such a statement does is automatically reinforces a guard against our desire for any hint of self-exaltation, positioning us in our proper place before the One with whom we are enjoying company.

When we come to prayer and live each moment today, let us remember that every shred of glory belongs to the One who delights in His own glory, all the while pouring out love continually and exercising faithfulness without fail.

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