All for His Glory; None for our own

“Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, [and] for thy truth’s sake.” (Ps 115:1 AV)

That’s a good place to be!  The writer wants no recognition for anything.  It all belongs to God.  How many times do we take compliments without reflecting them heavenward?  The more we walk with the LORD, the more repulsed we are at who and what we are.  If there is any good in us, it is because of the work of God.  We agreed with Paul when he said, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not.” (Ro 7:18 AV) There is nothing naturally occurring with the body, soul, or spirit of man that is admirable.  We are fallen and live in the midst of sin.  If there is any good, it is because God has caused it.  So, when the writer makes this statement, he has come to this by much meditation and honesty.  Humility and love for his God is the heart here.

One can always tell professional athletes with maturity and humility.  After a monument win, who they recognize always reveals his or her maturity.  Some celebrities are transparent.  They could recognize others, but their body language tells a different story.  Even in the process of thanking others, they remain the center of attention.  It is refreshing when someone wins the championship and never says a word of what he or she accomplished to make that happen.  It is so refreshing to see someone who pushes off any recognition for success on others.  It is remarkable.  In a cursory search of the humblest professional athlete of all time, there were some recognizable names like Gretzky, Odell-Beckham, Fitzgerald, etc.  But one name seemed to be consistent.  He is recognized as one of the best power forwards in professional basketball and one of the top five centers of all time.  He won five national championships and when he retired, didn’t even show up for the press conference announcing the event.  He never gave interviews that made the front page.  In fact, if you are not a die-hard NBA fan, you may not even recognize his name.  The man?  Tim Duncan.  This is as it should be.  The truly humble don’t even want their name to be recognized.

This is the spirit of the verse above.  We should want to be a nobody.  We should want others to recognize what God has done through us and not what we have done.  In fact, a nondescript headstone with barely a name and date should be our wish.  If there are books written about us, they should be all about what the LORD had done.  Not what we have done.  There should be no aggrandizement.  No monuments.  No perpetual memory of our life.  Only that which God has done should be the praise of mankind.  No hall of fame.  No name recognition.  Nothing of note names after us.  It should be all about God and none of us!  That is the heart of the writer above.  Let God get all the glory.  Not just most of it!  As John the Baptist correctly said, “He must increase, I must decrease.”  “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I [am] the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these [things] I delight, saith the LORD.” (Jer 9:24 AV)