Psalms 62:7
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge. (NIV)
Our honor depends on the Lord. The word ‘honor’ comes from a Hebrew word that means ‘weight.’ It is figurative. Think about the weight some people have in our lives, families, churches, and society. If you were at my church this past week, you met Pastor Mike, who carries much weight in my life. He pastored my wife and I at a formative and difficult time in our life. 26 years later, his words go a long way with me. He has a heavy influence on my life.
However, the Hebrew word can be used in a negative sense as well. You may have negative people in your life who have a negative weight. Because of who they are to you, their words matter, but they are not the kind of people who speak life to your soul. They weigh us down with their heavy disapproval and denigration.
Ultimately, the weight we have in other people’s lives can run positively or negatively. The Lord has called us to be the light, heavy in love and truth, and lead others in the path of righteousness. David reminds us today that our positive weight in the life of others depends on the weight the Lord has in our life.
When this world weighs us down, it is difficult for us to speak the words of life to others. It is out of the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks. It’s not that we don’t work at shining light even under the cover of our personal darkness. However, there is greater difficulty in ministering to others when we are not being ministered to. We need to be weighed down and overwhelmed by His goodness and grace so that He overflows out of us into others. Our ministry to others is dependent upon God’s ministry to us. This makes spending time with God in the Spirit of the utmost importance.
To be a husband who pours life into his wife and children, we must habitually immerse ourselves in the Spirit. To be someone who pours out life into our children, co-workers, and even those we share the road with, we must force our schedule to conform to our need for intimacy with the Spirit. Without Him, we have little honor, if any, but with Him, the weight of who He is pours out of us to all we encounter.
Prayer: Lord, motivate me to carve out time to commune deeply with you so that I might live honorably in the weight of Your honor in my life.
