That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it. — Psalm 109:27
Once, I was given a form to fill out for an organization that was related to my work. It asked for a lot of typical information, such as name and address, but there were several lines where it asked me to list my accomplishments. They wanted to know about any awards I had won, special groups I was nominated for, or other special things such as that.
Our world is really caught up in accomplishments in our day. You see a lot of people brag about their lives on social media, sharing all their accomplishments. People want to go viral on YouTube or Tik Tok, just so they can brag about their accomplishments. There is nothing wrong with doing things in life, but are those really our accomplishments?
Many would argue they are. They would claim that you have done those things in yourself and therefore you deserve the recognition for the accomplishment. David seems to give another perspective here in Psalm 109 that is interesting. He says that he wants the things done in his life so that others may know that God has done them.
He didn’t change his request of God, he still wanted God to intervene. He wanted God to do great things in his life and bless him with accomplishments and help him through difficulty. He realized that it was most important that others were able to see the hand of God at work in those things. He realized that it would be an encouragement and help to others to see what God had done.
Are we living our lives for recognition of ourselves or the God that lives in us? He has blessed each of us, protected us, and continues to guide us through life. While we have the free will to make decisions, it is God that we trust and ask for guidance in those decisions. Oh that our desire would be like that of David. That we would get our desires for personal recognition out of the way so that others would see God.