Psalm 31:3

Psalm 31:3

The honour of His name     

This appears to be David at his demanding best! It reads like many prayers that I have heard over the years. Here the king almost seems to twist God’s arm and we could interpret his pleas to mean, “Since You are my rock and my fortress and promise to look after me. Since Your name is the most powerful in the universe and You wouldn’t want anyone to demean You. And since You are my God and since I am constantly singing Your praises You had better lead and guide me!” How dare David speak of the Lord God in such a way? How dare He …..? Hang on a moment, the divinely appointed king is under attack, he is vulnerable and alone and surrounded by enemies and things are pretty desperate. God appointed Him to this position and David does not want God’s name to be devalued. This is not the cry of a manipulator but a cry of desperation. “Please lead me and guide me so that everyone knows how great Your name really is.” There is a simple but also profound lesson here. When we plead with God and demand that He gets us out of trouble, when we angrily throw our toys out of the pram and insist on His involvement then we have completely the wrong attitude, our prayers are selfish and demanding and disrespectful. When we come humbly to Him and forget ourselves but show concern for His name and His reputation then we can expect that He will lead and guide us. He already has!!  You see, all He cares about is our wellbeing, our salvation and our protection. We cannot reciprocate in any way except to seek the honour of His name. Hallelujah! 

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