Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali once said the amazing phrase we have all heard: "I am the greatest." UFC fighter Conor McGregor said this: "I'm not just a fighter. I'm a dream." Kanye West, musician, producer, said this that I quote: "I'm a god. I don't believe in being humble."
We see ego all over the place, and our Verse of the Day actually addresses ego and what we trust in.
It comes from Psalm chapter 20, verse 7. It says, "Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the LORD our God."
Trust in Divine Power, Not Human Strength
The book of Psalms is a collection of 150 hymns, and they're tremendous little verses and chapters which really allow the human soul to bleed. They allow us to express emotion and ultimately point to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. In this particular passage, we look at two reasons to trust in God’s divine power and not in earthly human strength.
Number one, boasting in human strength is foolish. "Some nations boast of their chariots and horses." You can look throughout history—those Egyptians who chased the Israelites into the Red Sea. They all died, and they had all kinds of power in their army. Pharaoh thought he was all of that. And they perished because boasting in human strength ultimately for this world and the next is absolutely fruitless.
Psalm chapter 33, verses 16 and 17, says this: "The king is not saved by his great army. A warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue." As we think about ego, when we think about strength, it's not just in this world we're thinking about how it's foolish, but it's in the next.
Secondly, boasting in divine strength is faithful. Boasting in divine strength is wise. Like my kids might say, boasting in divine strength is fire. We need a power source, something outside of ourselves. As we look at this verse, "But we boast in the name of the LORD our God." The name, the name is something that we've lost today—what it represents. The name represented all kinds of things in the Old Testament. A name meant something. Here we boast in the name, who God is, in the name of the Lord our God.
Examine What You Trust
Praise should not be directed to objects or to ourselves. Have you ever noticed that those who are most selfish, even some of those who are most famous and most selfish at the same time, are the most unhappy? You and I, my dear friend, have never been created to find ultimate satisfaction and meaning in life in ourselves.
What do we do with this passage? It's very applicable today. Number one: examine what you trust. Examine what you trust. What do I trust? When trouble comes, pressure comes, difficulty comes. Maybe you don't know the Lord. Whatever it is, don't look to yourself. Don't look to human resources. Look to God. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Second Peter—for the Christian—2 Peter chapter 1, verse 3 says, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and for godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." We need His strength.
Fight Your Daily Enemy of Pride
Number two: fight your daily enemy of pride. My daily enemy is pride every single day, and I throw my own parties in my mind. Sometimes I have my own parades in my mind, whatever it might be. The faster I can get my eyes off myself and onto other people and serve other people—that's why I've been created to serve others and to glorify Jesus Christ. We have to fight our daily enemy of pride.
Praise the Truly Famous One
Finally: praise the truly famous one. We want to praise the truly famous one. How do we do that? Well, Jeremiah chapter 9, verses 23 and 24 says this: "Thus says the LORD, 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast in his might. Let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I'm the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight,' declares the LORD."
See, when you know Him, when I truly know God and truly know Christ, we'll praise Him, because we truly see how famous and amazing Jesus Christ is.
