April 2017 Articles

Archives by Months

Spiritual Corner:

Spiritual Corner:
I’ve been reading the book of Psalms lately. My goal has been to read one chapter every morning before I go to work. Just the other day, I read Psalm 79 and it really got me to thinking. Psalm 79:9-13 reads, “Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake. Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants. May the groans of the prisoners come before you; with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die. Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times the contempt they have hurtled at you, Lord. Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.” As I read this psalm, I realized that the writer was pleading with God for help. I definitely understand that. I need God’s help constantly. However, what struck me was verse 13, “Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise”. The way I took this psalm was that the speaker was begging God for His help and deliverance, and that if God helped him, THEN he would praise Him forever. That word THEN is what really stuck out to me. It seems to me as if the writer is, in a way, making a deal with God. God if you help me, then I’ll praise you forever. It’s as if the writer’s praise for God is going to happen on a conditional basis. This definitely jumped out at me. How often do we, as Christians, make conditional deals with God? We think, “God, if you’ll only let me do well on this test. If you’ll just let this job offer come through. God, if you’ll heal this person, I’ll never ask for anything else.” I feel like we often bargain with God. However, I think we all know how wrong that is. God doesn’t owe us a single thing. How prideful must we be to think that we can tell God that if He helps us, THEN we’ll praise Him? The psalmist has it all backwards in my opinion. We should praise God every moment of every day simply because HE IS GOD. God alone is worthy to be praised. He created us, He gives to us, He died for us. HE IS GOD. It’s a slippery slope when we start bargaining with God or even getting too caught up in what He’s given us, thinking that it’s OUR’S, and we deserve it. We know that God gives and he takes away. We can remember the story of Job, where he had many wonderful things (including family), and yet it was all taken from him. However, Job remained faithful to God because he knew that God owes us absolutely nothing. Instead, we owe God absolutely EVERYTHING. My challenge to us today is to not love and praise God on a conditional basis. Let’s study the Word and learn more about God. Let’s begin to love and praise God for the simple fact that HE IS GOD. The more we learn about God, the more deeply we will fall in love with God. Let’s continue to be thankful to God for all He’s given us, realizing that the things He’s given us are temporary. Therefore, let’s take special care of our blessings, and praise God for being the wonderful God He is. There’s nothing conditional about God’s love for us, so let’s not let their be anything conditional about our love for Him. —Dana Alexander