Recently in my Sunday reading of the Psalms I read Ps. 108 and Ps. 2-4 and came across these references to “my glory.”
·
108:1-3: This first stanza contains the
Psalmists desire and commitment to praise his God. O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing
and give praise, even with my glory.
This praise will be enhanced by musical instruments, it will be the
first thing from David’s lips each day, and it will be proclaimed not only in
Israel but to all the nations. The praise
will revolve around the two magnificent perfections of God: checed and emet,
mercy/goodness/lovingkindness and truth/ faithfulness. God’s people never get tired of praising God
for this because the goodness is new every morning.
o
What is so special about praising God “even with
my glory.” This is not complicated. David is promising to take the thing(s) that people
think he is good at, they brag about him for something, and he will use that “something”
to praise God. Nevertheless, I thought I
would check a couple of “easy” commentaries: Jamieson/Faucette/Browne and
Mathew Henry. They both referred this “my
glory” to the tongue. I didn’t
quite understand that. But then Henry
went on to say that David’s glory was his skill in music, and that was why the
next line referred to using instruments to accompany the praise. That, of course, was something David was
known for (1 Sam. 16:18).
·
3:3: But you, O LORD, are a shield for me, my
glory and the One who lifts up my head.
In this Psalm, again “my glory” is something David is famous for. But this time, and in everything in David’s
life, it is the LORD that makes David famous.
If the title is correct on this Psalm, that David sang this song when he
fled from Absalom, then this is David trusting God so that once they arrived at
the place of safety, he was able to rest through the night. He was reminding himself that God was the One
who hade established the covenant with him, lifting his head above all other
kings. God did this, and David could
trust God to keep His promise even in the dark days of Absalom’s rebellion.
·
4:2-3: How long, O you sons of men, will you
turn my glory to shame? How long will
you love worthlessness and seek falsehood?
But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; the
LORD will hear when I call to Him. In
this passage we again see David in a difficult situation (unspecified). He is putting his trust in God, not so much because
of the covenant God made but because this is what the LORD does for the godly: The
LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly will perish
(Ps. 1:6). Ultimately I would say that
David’s “glory” is his place as King of Israel.
To turn his glory into shame would be to seek to frustrate God’s plan
for David, shaming David and then as a result of that, shaming God. It’s like Moses prayer of intercession for
Israel: “LORD, if you destroy Israel now the Egyptians will shame you, that you
could bring them out of Egypt but could not bring them in to the Promised Land”
(paraphrased).
Thus, however David spoke of “his glory,”
whether his musical skill or his place as King of Israel, his glory is
something that God has given to him. If
he is seeking to use that skill or position to do God’s will and for God’s glory,
then David can count on God to see him through the trials of life. God’s glory is at stake when David’s glory is
under attack.
One more thing. What about believers in Christ? Certainly we should seek to use the skills
God has given us for His glory, and we will always want to glorify God as we
use them. But we need to remember that our
life in Christ revolves around His promise to give us His glory (John 17:22-23). We are gaining an eternal weight of glory as
we go through our light and momentary afflictions (2 Cor. 4:16-18). What that means is that we are adding to the
glory of Christ, so that our precious faith may be found to praise, honor
and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pt. 1:6-7). His glory is my glory, now and then!
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