Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. (Ps. 72:19)
How do you know if the Lord is with you? Can you tell by how prosperous you are? Does it rely on the ability to defeat your enemies? Perhaps you can tell if God is on your side by the size of your influence? According to David, in this prayer for his son Solomon, the mark of God’s presence in your life is how much you can lift God up in the earth. In verses 18–19, David not only taught us to praise God, but also to make his name known so that the whole earth would sing his glory.
In Psalm 72, we find the crescendo of King David’s understanding of what really matters. Old in age, David was not asking God to bless his son with prosperity, influence, and victory, but rather, because the Spirit of truth lived in David, he wanted God’s name and deeds to be praised when people thought of Israel. He wanted fame to rest on God.
Similarly, our lives should exist to show the world that God is real. May we spend our days—and end our lives—blessing, working, and praying that the kingdom of God would spread throughout the earth so that we can say, as Saint Augustine did, that God can fill this world but the world will never contain him.
Let God be famous in your life.
Devon Smith is district superintendent of the Tri-State District of The Wesleyan Church, and founder/director of the CROSS Training ordination program at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
