God, our source

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. (Psalm 18:28–29, NIV)

As David recounts the works of God, he acknowledges that everything comes from the Lord – oil for his lamp, military help, strength to climb a wall. His song rises out of the many years of trusting God and seeing him deliver, whether it was when David defeated Goliath with God’s help, five stones and a sling, or when the Lord gave him a hiding place from Saul.

These testing times provided David with a choice; he could trust God to take him through the difficulties or blame him because things weren’t going to plan. As we’ve seen over the past Mondays, David wasn’t perfect, but he learned from his mistakes and sought after God. And after a lifetime of seeing God make good on his promises, he wants to attribute all the glory and honor to him.

Our Western world is so different from that of David’s. We have the conveniences of modern life such as travel, communication, and technology. With all of these things making our lives easier (but more complicated), we can be tempted to think that we control our lives. But if our hearts are tender towards God, we see that he is the source of all we have and do. Sometimes, however, we only turn to God as a last resort because of disaster, calamity, or sickness.

How can we follow David’s lead in attributing all the glory to the Lord? Perhaps it is in offering to God that misunderstanding with a friend. To seek his wisdom when our children go off the rails. To ask him to help us see that annoying person as he sees them. To say thank you when we complete a project, have a joyous time with a loved one, or make it to our destination safely.

God’s help is as present today as it was for David. As we trust in him moment by moment, we too will be able to say that he has provided for our needs and turned our darkness into light.

Prayer: “Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours” (1 Chronicles 29:11).