Psalm 89:16–24 16In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: And in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. 17For thou art the glory of their strength: And in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. 18For the Lord is our defence; And the Holy One of Israel is our king. 19Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, And saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. 20I have found David my servant; With my holy oil have I anointed him: 21With whom my hand shall be established: Mine arm also shall strengthen him. 22The enemy shall not exact upon him; Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. 23And I will beat down his foes before his face, And plague them that hate him. 24But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: And in my name shall his horn be exalted.
I have always been a bit of a nerd. Ok, it’s more than a bit of nerdiness, it’s a bunch. I suppose it has something to do with being an only child. With no siblings, I had to be the hero and the villain, the cowboy and the Indian, the cop and the robber. While taking a walk by my childhood home you would probably hear me arguing with myself. I suppose that is why I read today’s passage from Psalms and thought of a childhood superhero scenario. Don’t judge me, you have weird aspects too! Here is what I imagined.
I imagine a young man who is weak and frail with bottlecap glasses and a pocket protector in his shirt pocket. A desire to do good has been placed into his heart but he lacks any natural ability to fulfill his dream. This young man attempts to stand up to the bullies in his neighborhood but is only bullied himself. The neighborhood needs a hero but there is no one to fill that gap.
Along comes a very wealthy and brilliant man, who recognizes the need for a hero in this place and the heart within this young fella. The wealthy one offers this weakling something incredible, a shiny suit that makes up all he lacks, supernatural strength, magnified vision, impenetrable armor. The youngster puts on this super suit and stands with hands on his waist and chin held high with a cape waving in the wind. After all, we all know that a superhero without a cape is like an ice cream sundae without a cherry on top!
Here stands a man transformed, adorned with another’s strength and beauty!
Watch out bullies, here comes the boom!
That was one of my childhood fantasies. I was the skinny boy and the suit, well, that was a pair of underoos! (If you don’t know what underoos are, then click here)
So, why this elaborate introduction to this portion of the Psalms?
Psalm 89:17 For thou art the glory of their strength: And in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
The word glory means adornment, ornament or beauty. This passage teaches that the strength of his people comes from God. Their adornment and their abilities are from their Lord.
The example given in our text is king David who was chosen as a boy without any outward sign of strength.
Psalm 89:20 I have found David my servant; With my holy oil have I anointed him:
God looked past his shell and within this young man’s soul and equipped him to become God’s champion. David was decorated by the Divine, equipped by Elohim for something special.
David isn’t the only one!
Do you feel helpless, you are correct in that assessment! You are weak without the Lord! Ah, but if you will go to God and get what you are lacking, he will adorn you with ability for great things in his purpose!
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