Ps. 115 - To Your name give glory O Lord

This life is becoming more and more busy - people rushing from one thing to another, trying to fit in as much as possible, to do all that there is to do, to work, to play, to watch, to listen to all that our society is making available to us. We are running ever faster to reach a goal that becomes more and more elusive - all of us seeking happiness and satisfaction, all of us wanting success and fulfilment yet not sure where any of that is to be found. These are the days that we were told to expect - the times of difficulty, times of stress that Paul wrote to Timothy about - the times when each person would be so desperate to find the 'good life' that he or she forgets about the real life that has always been on offer in Christ Jesus.

I was thinking about that this morning as I sat with the Lord, reading through as I always do and asking Him to show me something else, something I hadn't seen before, something that was applicable today. Psalm 115 opens up with:

'Not to us O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your lovingkindness and because of Your truth'.

I sat pondering - going over in my mind all the prayers and requests I had made and wondering if I had been asking with wrong motives - for my glory and not for His - but then I saw it - why to Your name give glory O Lord? Because this world is attaching so much 'glory' to all that is empty and futile - all that will ultimately lead to death.

Look at how the psalm goes on - with an affirmation of God - of where He is and who He is and what He has promised. With the assurance of His mercy and grace and faithfulness and truth. With the reality that He sits enthroned in heaven, that He does whatever He pleases, that He is a blessing God - One who sees and who cares and who chooses to do good for those who come to Him.

Yet look at the nations and their idols - look at what the peoples are worshipping, - the work of their own hands - the self made, self exalting, idols that cannot speak or see, or hear or feel, that cannot move or think or walk. The idols of money, of education of reputation or power - the idols that are all about 'me' and that are made in 'my' image, according to 'my' name and for 'my' glory. 

Then look at the end result of those who worship such things - 'those who make them will become like them....' That is where this world is rushing to - a place of silence and sorrow and fear, a place of absolute lonliness, an eternity of futility and darkness from which there is no escape.

And I knew that this was for me this morning - the absolute realisation that if I do not lift up the name of the Lord Jesus, if I do not proclaim His glory, if I do not worship Him in Spirit and in Truth then I am failing those He has left me here to reach. He is a merciful, gracious, faithful, loving God and He is crying out through those who know and love Him to a desperate and lost generation.

We don't have the time to worry about our own glory - we don't have the time to think about 'me'. Do not run as the world runs, do not waste a moment on your own glory but seek to proclaim Christ. Make Him known as the glorious, life giving God that He is. Make it your business to grow in your knowledge of His excellence, to live in the power of His resurrection and to know the fellowship of His sufferings for the sake of a world that is rushing ever faster into the abyss.