Psalm 144

            It is believed that this Psalm celebrates the fact of David being back on the throne after he was disgustingly, temporarily deposed by his son Absalom, who was not just after his kingdom but his very life. His people were once again subdued under him. Peace was restored and David was once again enjoying manifest prosperity. From the text it is not to be taken lightly that David attributes all to God. “It wasn’t time,” said David, “it was the Lord.”

            Brothers and sisters can I remind us today that it is all of the Lord. It was not me! I trust no one gets offended as I reiterate and seek to hammer it home – it was not you but the Lord. Please receive this with grace! It was not your ingenuity, brilliance, skills, or ability that brought you hither but the Lord.

            I find it refreshingly remarkable how David sees God and reverentially describes Him for us in the passage. First, he acknowledges that it is the Lord who even taught him how to fight and to be skillful and successful in war, (v1) to the point that all the surrounding nations had to come and make peace with him, on his own terms. Therefore, he lovingly addresses God as – “My goodness, my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me” (v2). What a lofty view of God!

            Church, how often we forget who God is to us personally. When the bottom literally falls out of our lives, may we be soberly brought back to this realization of who He is. We are literally nothing without Him. Again, this may be one of the essential lessons of COVID. How easily we can all be taken down, removed, and deposed.

            Without a personal knowledge of the divine and the holy, how fragile, and insecure we all are! The prophet Jeremiah also painstakingly reminds us of this truth. He declares “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not” (Lamentations 3:22). Reestablished on his throne, David gives praise not to his commander-in-chief, Joab, nor to his faithful subjects or supporters, but to his sovereign keeper – the Lord. All praise must ultimately go to the One who subjects all the enemy forces of darkness under our feet. As I survey where I was and where I am now, I must simply, honestly declare. It was not me!

            In this Psalm, David sees God like he has never seen him before. In spite of all the troubles in his life, his kingdom and his family, David is determined to sing a new song (v9). In fact, the book of Psalms strikes a new note from this point forward until it reaches a crescendo in Psalm 150. God’s people must be determined to sing a new song despite of all their troubles. David sees God as the Supreme and deliverer of his life (v2). When we see and understand the magnitude of our deliverances and how close we were to being snuffed out and annihilated, we can only acknowledge most humbly like this Psalmist, it wasn’t me – but God – all God! We sing with renewed hope and determination, declaring “. . . Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord” (v15). It was not me! May we never get it twisted.

Leroy V. Greenaway

Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region

June 10, 2023