Four Simple Words

“I said unto the LORD, Thou [art] my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD.” (Ps 140:6 AV)

Four little words determine the effectiveness of the second half of the verse.  Four little words will determine God’s attentiveness to our prayers.  What are those four little words?  “Thou art my God”.  That is the ultimate statement.  This confession is not an idle one.  This statement is not something someone can simply utter with little to no meaning.  When the psalmist confesses to the Creator that He is the God of the writer, it means far more that it may at first appear.  To say someone or something is your God is to say that He or it alone possesses the right to do with you as He or it wishes.  To profess Jehovah as your God is to confess that Jehovah created you and sustains you.  To declare Jehovah as your God is to declare there is no one or nothing else that can demand absolute devotion.  To say that God is our God is to say that there is no one else to whom we go, no one else whom we worship, no one or nothing else that commands our honor, obedience, and faith.

I have officiated several weddings over the years.  Some couples write their own vows.  Most use traditional vows.  Traditional vows go something like this. “I, [name], take you, [name], to be my lawfully wedded [wife/husband]. I promise to love and cherish you, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, keep myself only unto you, for so long as we both shall live.”  There are many variations, of course, but the idea is universal.  This vow is a vow of complete and total devotion.  This vow promises faithfulness in marriage.  More so than faithfulness, it promises a singularity of relationship.  There is no room for second place.  All others are to be forsaken.  Many years ago, I dated a young lady who was a bit of a tomboy.  She had many male friends.  We had started to get committed, but she would not abandon her friendship with other men.  She promised to be romantically involved with only me, but she insisted she be allowed to continue her male friendships.  Needless to say, this did not go much further.  I didn’t want to be the best among many.  I wanted to be the only one. Forsaking all others doesn’t mean to maintain them but not grow them.  Forsaking means to turn one’s back on them as though they do not exist.  That is commitment!

Faith and obedience are our barometers.  If we obey the LORD and believe in Him with all our hearts, they He alone is our God.  Many worship God.  Many say that they love God.  However, if God is not in all our thoughts, then He alone is not our God.  If we have forsaken all others, then God’s wishes come before those of anyone or anything else.  Even human relationships must take a back seat to God.  If He is my God, then there is nothing that competes with Him.  When I married, I forsook all other female relationships, present and future.  There was and is no other lady who can expect from me my devotion and sacrifice.  None.  The same should be true for our God.  If God is our God, then there is no other.  Period.  He is our love.  He is our life.  He alone is our breath.  It is Jehovah God and none else.