By Creation And Redemption I Am Yours

Meditations on Christ in the Psalms

February 2, 2023

By Creation And Redemption I Am Yours

Unless the Lord builds a house,

    the work of the builders is wasted.

Unless the Lord protects a city,

    guarding it with sentries will do no good.

Psalm 127:1

I believe the most grievous error a Christian can make is to assume that what we believe about God and His Kingdom is the absolute truth. Good people, good Christians can disagree on points of theology, doctrine and in understanding God’s will in a particular situation. Acts 15:36-41 tells the story of Paul and Barnabas disagreeing, to the point that they separated company. The Moravian Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf was a close friend and mentor to John Wesley. Yet they disagreed passionately about their understanding of a crucial aspect in the life of a believer: holiness in life and holiness of heart. As a result, they parted company.

However, there are aspects of our life in Christ that leave no room for compromise. King Solomon’s wisdom in Psalm 127 is an example of a truth that opens the possibility of Christ truly being formed in the life of a believer. Simply put, “Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted (v. 1). The psalmist is pointing us to an understanding that the life of a believer totally belongs to God. The Apostle James captures this same thought,

“Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil” (James 4:13-16).

My Takeaway: I express my understanding of the psalmist’s and James’ teaching in this prayer of an unknown saint:

O Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth;

I worship you. With all angels and saints I adore you.

I acknowledge you to be my Creator and my God.

I render to you the reverence of my being and my life.

I am not my own. I am yours.

By creation and redemption I am yours.

I will devote myself to your service this day and forever.

O Lord, grant grace for this I pray

in the name of my Savior, Christ Jesus.

Amen (Emphasis Mine)

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.