It was a great feeling. I had worked so hard. That trombone felt like it was attached to me.
Back in high school, I wanted so badly to make the Mississippi All-State Lion’s Band. Not only was it a great honor, it was worth scholarship money AND they took a trip every year to compete as an honor band. I worked so hard.
Finally, my senior year I made it. I was ecstatic. I felt like a champion. But there’s the inescapable truth in life: there’s always someone better. No matter how good I felt about my accomplishment, I wasn’t the best in my section and I knew it.
All ego aside, it was a little unsettling. To feel like a champion one day and fell like a weak link the next. But our life with Christ can feel like that too, right? There are days we feel like we can take on Satan single-handedly; other days, we are afraid to utter a peep about our faith.
O the power of a declaration in those moments.
9 As for me, I will declare this forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob, 10 who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”
When we read words like “as for me” at the beginning of verse 9, it’s easy to go right past it onto whatever is being written after it but if you stop and take a look at it, there’s a great little lesson here. It is resolute. Someone else is not telling me to believe this, “I” am resolving to this statement. Instead of hiding behind some notion of “what I’m told to believe”, we are called to actually believe it. Our relationship with Jesus, dear one, is not about just believing the right thing; it’s doing the right thing.
Then the resolution continues: “I will declare”. We’re not going to let someone else say it. We have determined in our hearts that we will shout it from the rooftops if necessary. We will sing praise to the Lord. Regardless of what we see happening all around us, our resolve is unshaken. Our eyes are set on the prize. We may trip. We may fall. We may get bruised up. Nevertheless, even with mud on our face, we will declare the praises of the One seeing us through!
Verse 10 is a great reminder of what we know but often forget: the Lord opposes evil. It is the Lord who takes revenge on evil. We are called to rest in the palm of His hand. Like Asaph (the writer of Psalm 75), we are called to take our place in worship and recognize Who He is and what He is doing!
As God’s people, we don’t find our hope in this world or in the wisdom of this world (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:19). Instead, we glue “our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2a). Jesus has gone before and will go behind. We follow Him because He has blazed the trail. We love Him because He first loved us. We are loved. We are valued. We are champions…in Him!
Verse 1 Why would I spend my life longing For the day that it would end Why would I spend my time pointing to another man Isn’t that crazy How can I find hope in dying With promises unseen How can I learn Your way is better In ev’rything I’m taught to be Isn’t that crazy Verse 2 And if I boast let me boast In filthy rags made clean And if I glory let me glory in my Savior’s suffering Isn’t that crazy And as I live this daily life I trust You for ev’rything And I will only take a step When I feel You leading me Isn’t that crazy Chorus I have not been called to the wisdom of this world But to a God who’s calling out to me And even though the world may think I’m losing touch with reality It would be crazy to choose this world Over eternity
Life Meets Theology 