Starting Our Week Right!
On our Facebook page we try to start our week with a motivational verse.
We are a small but engaged community of Christians on Facebook so while our impact is, perhaps, tiny it is hoped that a powerful verse to start our week will be uplifting to those that need it, and will strengthen our work in Christ.
Here, we thought it might be interesting to consider our motivational verse in more detail – what does it mean in the context of its broader position within the word of God?
This week our verse was taken from Psalm 118:14
The Lord is my strength and defence; he has become my salvation.
(Some versions also say the Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation)
Of course if you wake up facing the prospect of a horrible conversation at work, or a grizzly commute this can certainly bolster you as you approach the day, but we did some digging to find out a bit more about what it means in the context of living a life in Christ.
Psalm 118 is 29 verses long and is a part of a group of five Psalms starting at Psalm 113 that are known as the “Egyptian Haifa” which concentrate on how to live for, and make a difference for, God in our lives.
In a study guide by John Karmelich of Psalm 118 he suggests that this group of Psalms are extremely important in teaching us how to get our focus on God so that we can make a difference for him, but that they are late on in the book of Psalms because we first have to learn about the desire to worship God.
This Psalm focuses in its 29 verses on all the struggles we can face when we live our lives for God, reminding the reader how we depend on God to become victorious in the first place. It encourages the reader to remember their true purpose and calling for God and to live their life with meaning.
In our verse (verse 14) The psalmist is praising God and acknowledging that all of their victories in life thus far are through the guidance and strength of God in their life (The Lord is my strength and defence). And that all through those struggles God has provided salvation.
It goes to show us that even in the times that the Psalmists were writing these verses, that serve us so well even now, the struggles they faced were genuine. That living a life of purpose for God was at times challenging. This verse reminds us not just that God is with us through the minutiae of our day-to-day life but, if we put our faith and trust in him, he will lead us to victory through him in living a life of meaning and purpose.