Psalm 44:1-3 – O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old: you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free; for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.
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At the beginning of this psalm, the author remembers God’s past faithfulness. His purpose is to declare how God has been faithful to Israel in the past, and then to ask God for that blessing at present. But the first three verses caught my attention for something different.
Over the past few Sundays, I have been preaching from John 6. One of the major doctrines that I have taught is the sovereignty of God in our salvation. This, of course, is a difficult doctrine for many, and some may be wondering why I would bother dealing with it. The answer to that question, besides the simple fact that it is in the text, is something I see in the first three verses of the Psalm.
In these verses, the psalmist acknowledges very clearly that God is the one responsible for Israel’s success in taking the land. Their victories came from God, not the least bit from their own might. The psalmist rightly gives all the glory to God for Israel’s success in verse 3 when he writes, “for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.”
Now, imagine if the psalmist had thought something different. Imagine if he added anything in that verse about Israel’s own wisdom or strength saving them. Imagine if he had tried to give Israel even the slightest credit for their military victories. I think that it is clear that, for him to have written such a thing would have been for him to rob God of the glory due his name for the salvation of Israel. It would have been sinful, and to a great degree, for him to have said that the victory was mostly God’s doing, but Israel did participate in the process and thus deserve some credit. No, the psalmist got it right when he sent all the glory to God for the salvation of Israel, and we need to do likewise.
It is to honor God for his glorious work that we also focus on the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. We never, under any circumstances, want to take credit for something that God does in our lives. We do not desire to pretend that we deserve credit for something that God worked. If it is of God, it is to his glory, whatever it is. We, if we are to follow God rightly, must jealously guard the name of our God and rightly offer him all the glory he is due. Thus, we will honor him with 100% of the glory for our salvation, and not 99.9%, because to take even 0.1% of the glory away from God is to commit an infinite offense.
Lord, I come to you this morning, and I declare that you are great and glorious. Any good, any success that I have in my life is from you. Without question, you are the one to whom the glory is due. This is also certainly true in my salvation. I can take no credit for anything in my salvation. I can not take credit for the work done to save me, because that is all of Christ. I can not even take credit for having the faith to trust Christ, because that is a gift from you. My salvation is 100% to your glory. I give you that honor. I thank you and praise you. I dare not take credit for any of my own actions, because they are all from your grace. I praise you, for being a gracious and loving God who breathed life into my dead spirit.
Pastor Travis Peterson 
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