The Voice

Psalm 29.

This psalm really resonated with me this morning. How often do we view only part of God? How often do we only focus on what we want to attribute to Him in our given circumstances?

I cannot speak for you, or any other person, but chances are that if I do it, I'm not alone.

Let me preface this post with some background: our church, the passionate body of believers at Image Church in Dumfries VA, has been praying for prayer. An interesting concept, but something this generation desperately needs. And I have been moved to dive deeper into prayer. Currently reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Praying through the Psalms.

Back to today.

Psalm 29:1-2 ESV: Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

King David opens this psalm the way all of our prayers must begin, with praise. To ascribe something is to bring attention to and assign an attribute to someone or something.

This brings our focus off of ourselves and onto the power and majesty of God. And for me, my pride wants to assign that to me, even if I don't actually say that aloud.

The rest of the Psalm is about the voice of God, and the power that lies within it. The power of both creation and destruction, of life and death, of prosperity and devastation.

Which brings me back to my original question, do our prayers give God praise and our thoughts reflect only of His goodness; or are we focusing on the truth and standing in awe of His goodness and wrath, His creation and destruction?

Today I am challenging myself to worship in both prosperity and poverty, to praise the God who gives and takes away. For both of those actions, are done not from my perspective, but by the will of God. And though I may see poverty, or prosperity, it is still what I need, regardless of my ability to understand it.