To God Be The Glory

   Our church publishes a monthly news letter in which I write an article.  Here is a copy of what I wrote this month concerning God's worthiness to receive all praise, honor, and glory in our lives.
 

   We live in a society overflowing with self exaltation and pride.  No matter where we look we see someone boasting of their accomplishments, their skill, their prowess in the world.  This attitude of pride is to be expected from a world whose influencer is Satan.  The very first sin in all the universe was pride.  There came a day when Satan said in his heart that he wanted to be like God, take God’s place, as if that were even possible.  One might even make the case that the root of all sin is pride, for sin is, in its most elemental form, a rebellion against the authority of God.  When we sin we are saying by our actions that we know more than God and we are in charge of our lives, not Him.  The Psalmist, however, gives us a correct view of God and of ourselves.  He said, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake” (Psalm 115.1).  The Psalmist simply confesses here that all boasting on our part is forever excluded.  Everything good in our lives is attributed to God and Him alone.  If we have received mercy in this life, it is the mercy of God.  If we have enjoyed accomplishments or successes in this life, it is the blessing of God.  If we receive notoriety, public accolades, or have been advanced in life above others, all glory, all praise belongs to God.  The late Matthew Henry, in his commentary on the whole Bible, said it this way, “We must not imagine that we do anything for God by our own strength, or deserve anything from God by our own righteousness; but all the good we do is done by the power of his grace, and all the good we have is the gift of his mere mercy, and therefore he must have all the praise.”  May we as Christians be reminded that our service to God and for God is a privilege.  All we have, all we are, all we are able to do in His name is a gift from God over which we are mere stewards in this life.  A stewardship, by the way, for which we will be held accountable one day.  May we set our eyes on Jesus and serve Him with all our heart, all our mind, and all our strength.  Then let us give Him and Him alone praise for whatever is done to His glory.