Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, my God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You, Lord God, have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men. 1 Chronicles 17:16-17

 

We are often quick to ask God when bad situations arise 'who are we that we deserve this?'. After learning that all things happen for a reason and trusting that regardless of the end result it will be good for us and add to the story of God in our lives we can turn that question and apply it to blessings. Even without anything else the simple fact that Jesus was a living sacrifice for us and came to save us should make us wonder as David does who are we that God has brought us as far as he has?

In the story of David, God brought him from out of the fields tending sheep into the king's palace. He gave him the gift of music to calm Saul's spirit and from that God revealed his plan to create a kingdom for David that would last generations. God promised that all of his descendants would establish a great kingdom. Jesus was a descendant of David and even though David may not have understood the full extent of God's promise or how great it truly was he still was able to humble himself and realize that he is simply a lowly servant who received promise without deserving it. We have no idea of the wonders God has in store for us in this lifetime and the next but we too can be like David and stand in awe at the incomprehensibility of it all.

David came from the fields to the kingship and God has brought us from the pit to life through Jesus. David continues his praise by mentioning not only has he brought him far but God's love was so great that even that wasn't enough. God blessed him more and spoke of the future. God has blessed us with salvation and though we may never be promised to be King of Israel we are promised to have a future as planned by God. We are entrusted with promises of our peace and joy in the present and the promise of a great kingdom and reward in the future. Because of God's love we should all find ourselves standing in awe and asking "who are we that we deserve all of this good?" We recognize that we cannot earn any of it just as David recognized and when we accept the gift of God's salvation and promise, it is then that we can recognize how we are so lowly and how majestic is his will for us.

While David's salvation was under the old covenant ours is under the new one of Christ and so we can also stand in awe as David did. David sums it up perfectly at the end and shows that even while we are imperfect because God loves us and we've received salvation through his son, we are looked on as if we are the most exalted of men. We have come from being sinners to saints, the most damned to the redeemed, the weakest to the strongest, the most frightened to the most confident - the list never ends because God's faithfulness never ends. He has brought us so very far and blessed us even beyond simple salvation. We become the most exalted because God's love is so great for us and each day we should recognize how much we don't deserve what we have and be faithfully reverent and full of praise to our Lord.

 

 

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Dear Father,
We know we deserve none of your redemption or salvation but we thankfully accept it. You have brought us so very far and we know you want to bring us even farther. We pray everyday you hear our souls crying out our thankfulness and being in a constantly humble state. It is not by any of our works or any of our worth that you move in our lives and we recognize it is only by your great love and glory. We praise you for your faithfulness and trust in your promises. Find pleasure in your servants and fashion us to be more and more like you. In your holy name which is worthy of all praise, Amen.