Never Strong Enough

“Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.” (Ps 68:28 AV)

Maintenance is not one of my passions.  Once I create or fix, I lose interest in it.  Maintaining is a discipline that takes discipline.  Maintenance is what keeps that which we create or fix is such a condition that one doesn’t have to start from scratch.  It strengthens the whole.  David is seeking God’s power and hand as he conquers the enemies of the Divine.  He rightly seeks guidance and might as he goes to battle against those who hate God.  But he also knows if the foundations already laid are not strengthened, the farther out he gets, the weaker the whole.  Of the church at Sardis, Jesus Christ tells them, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” (Re 3:2 AV)  If we allow those successes which the LORD has wrought to fall on disrepair, the whole structure could fall.  The foundations must be tended to.  The studs and the trusses must be conditioned.  If the framework falls into mismanagement, the whole building collapses.

A building can no more fix its problems than we can strengthen ourselves.  The building requires a master craftsman to come in, assess the need, and then hire the necessary workmen to restore the foundation.  The same is true of that which the LORD wrought for us.  He worked it for us.  Since when do we think the ability to maintain is one hundred percent ours?  This work is the work of the Holy Spirit. Our part is in yielding.  The house that I live in fell on disrepair for decades.  It was simply a low priority.  Before we moved in, the wonderful people of our church teamed up to repair this old house.  The most significant upgrade was to level the house and reinforce the structure underneath.  When the house was once again leveled, this weakened one corner of the foundation.  This corner had to be rebuilt.  Fieldstone was replaced with cinder blocks.  Cement was poured in to fill in the cinder blocks.  An earthquake could dislodge that corner of the house.  Having repaired the basic structure, we could then renovate the cosmetic aspects of the living space.  That which was wrought almost a hundred years ago had to be strengthened.  The house could not do this on its own.  The weight of the structure assisted in keeping it level, but it took skilled people to diagnose the problem and fix it.  What is important is required maintenance cannot be ignored.  A project is never truly complete.  The same is true in our lives.

Just because the LORD gives a victory does not indicate that which was gained by the victory cannot be lost.  David is wise here.  He is seeking the hand of God to strengthen that part of the kingdom which He has given so as he increases the size of the kingdom, what was won will remain.  We are often preoccupied with the losses that we don’t pay attention to the successes.  This is true in life.  This is true in church life.  I have seen pastors invest all their time is the hard cases and in the end, lose those who were squared away.  I have seen believers who would never fall in a certain area put all their attention to another, only to have that first area be their downfall.  Seeking continued examination in all areas is the wise thing to do.  Going back and shoring up that which has been gained is wise.  The LORD is the one who does this.  He can see the small fractures in the foundation or the trickle of water seeping into the basement.  These things escape our eyes.  He can see the details that will become of great concern if they are not addressed straight away.  This is an honorable and smart pursuit.  Let the LORD examine and strengthen even those strong areas of life so the whole building does not collapse.