SCRIPTURE
His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Psalm 147:10-11
OBSERVATION
The Psalmist reveals here the greatest key for people to please God. This is very important and we cannot miss it. Under any circumstance God will be pleased by the strength of horses. Just like today the power of nation is measured by their military arsenal, in the ancient times, the strength of a clan or a nation was measured by horse power. All nations wanted to have the best and the most horses. Israel was commanded never to do that. In Deuteronomy 17:16 God instructed this, "The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them..." And in Deuteronomy 20:1 Moses said, "When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you." Clearly, God wants his people to trust Him, not in what they can acquire.
In the same way, God's pleasure is not based in how strong their legs can be. With the kind of transportation in the ancient times, the legs were very important, and even more for people enlisted in the army. They had to be able to endure long distance marches, resist incline hills, and provide support when in battle. massive legs were a sign of individual strength. So people will train their legs to become stronger and stronger. But God is not impressed with such traits.
APPLICATION
Under any circumstance God will be pleased by the strength of our horses, which is whatever we can gather and ride on: our accomplishments, our structures, our stuff. In the same way, God's pleasure is not based in our legs, which is whatever we develop individually to get ahead and move forward in life: personal development, our education, our experience, our personal achievements, our influence.
The key to please God is to fear HIM. And in this context, fearing God is about putting our hope in His unfailing love. Nothing else!
In other words, my focus is to trust that great things can happen to me because God loves me. I'm blessed, not because I work so hard, but because He loves me. Our church thrives, not because we are better than others, but because God loves us and He loves the lost people He brings to our care. So when God reveals his vision for the future and we see great blessings ahead of us, instead of amassing more horses and working out the legs, we must praise God for His unfailing love, fear Him, and trust that all those blessings come only because He is crazy in love for us.
PRAYER
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for reminding me once again about the key for success in pleasing you. Forgive me for focusing more in horses and in strong legs rather than in your unfailing love. Develop that fear in me. Oh, Holy Spirit, fill me more and more so I can fear God and trust only in His unfailing love for me and the people I lead. Please help me to be a shepherd that guides people into this kind of understanding and that radically changes our lives. Amen!
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