READING: 1 Kings 2:1-9, 2 Samuel 23:1-7, 1 Kings 2:10-12, 1 Chronicles 29:26-30, Psalms 4–6, Psalms 8–9, 11
We are not God.
We know that truth intellectually. Nobody I know would say, “I am God.” In fact, most folks I know would recognize the blasphemous, idolatrous nature of our claiming to be God. They know there is only one God.
On the other hand, sometimes we live as if we think we are God . . . as if we get to set the rules . . . as if we determine what is right or wrong . . . as if we answer to no one but our own hearts . . . as if judgment will not come. Sometimes God dramatically (and often painfully) reminds us that we are creatures rather than the Creator.
In Psalm 9, the psalmist called for judgment on his enemies, those “mere mortals” who were defying God (Psa 9:19) and apparently living in the idolatry of self. They must have thought they were “something,” given the psalmist’s call for judgment so the enemies might know they were “merely human.” Mere mortals cannot stand up under the judgment of God; they can only “tremble in fear.”
May the Lord continually remind us that we are “merely human”—and that His “majestic name” alone “fills the earth” (Psa 8:9).
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Do you still wrestle with pride?
TODAY’S PRAYER: “Father, You are God; I am not.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Psalms 12-17, 19-21
