Psalm 62

I held a lamp in my hand, saying, "Our '11 power' is like this ..."

As I began to describe power in our lives, I walked to the center of the room. The cord caught on the lamp, and as it pulled out of the socket, the light went dark.

I walked back over to the outlet, pluged the light back in, and said, "Our power is like this ..." Again as I walked to the center of the room, the cord disconnected, and the light went out.

Again and again, "Our power is like this ..." and the light went out.

The question to our youth was, "When do we have power?"

Their answer, "When we're connected to our power source."

Indeed, if we want to have light in our lives, I said -- and Jesus, of course, is the light of the world -- then we must stay connected, because as David said, "11 Power, O God, belongs to you."

Power belongs to who?

At the beginning of this Psalm, we may picture David in his fugitive days in the wilderness, saying, "3 so many enemies against one man." But I believe that those are merely reflections in David's rearview mirror. I believe that David is the a king now instructing his people how to pray -- "8 O my people ... pour out your[selves] to him."

How would you define a king? Powerful?

Well, mighty King David is far cry from so many kings and pharoahs who thought themselves gods. David saw himself -- and us -- as momentary clouds of vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. He says essentially that each of us should be as valuable as fog -- which is to say, not valuable at all, "9 nothing at all" -- except that we each have an infinite treasure. Indeed, "7 [our] salvation and honor come from God ... [our] rock [and] refuge."

As David begins to reflect on God's power, he remembers his fugitive days in the wilderness -- he's looking at those events through the rearview mirror.

I actually believe that David is the king now, looking back on his fugitive days in the wilderness. But he says to his people that we are all equal in God's sight "9 from the greatest to the lowliest." Now, compared to the universe-creating power of God, we are in a sense "9 all nothing in his sight. [Indeed,] if you weigh [us] on the scales, [all of us put together] are lighter than a puff of air."

A far cry from the Pharoahs who thought themselves gods, King David saw himself -- and us -- as momentary clouds of vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. "9 If you weigh [us] on the scales," said David, "[we] are lighter than a puff of air," and as valuable as fog.

We are "9 nothing at all" ... in one sense ... and yet we have an infinite treasure: "7 [our] salvation and honor come from God ... [our] rock [and] refuge."

It reminds me of David's words in Psalm 8: "4 what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us? 5 For you made us only a little lower than God, and you crowned us with glory and honor. 6 You put us in charge of everything you made, giving us authority over all things."

By ourselves we are dust, but when we plug into God's power, there is overwhelming light.

Gracious Lord,
help us disconnect from our pride
and connect to your power.
Apart from you we are dust
-- indeed, "lighter than a puff of air" --
but connected to you, we are crowned with glory.
Lord, help me connect more fully to you
and show me your light.