Establish The Work of Our Hands

Psalm 90:12,14,17

“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom… Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days… Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us, yes, establish the work of our hands!”

Jesus, satisfy me in the morning with your steadfast love. My heart runs so quickly to the bread of anxious toil for satisfaction, when I have the Bread of Life always present with me. But my heart has not yet learned simple wisdom. It is still learning to number my days and know that I am fleeting.

Each morning when I begin a new day, my heart believes both too much of myself, and too little. It believes too much that I am self-sufficient for the needs of the day. My heart doesn’t see my need of you for every split-second of my existence. It also believes too little, believing that I am stuck in a rat race of vanity, believing that I really can’t accomplish much with this day you’ve given me. Like the wicked servant, I am tempted to believe harsh thoughts of Your generous heart. I think that you ask me to do things you have not equipped and supplied me to do, that you are “a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed” (Matt 25:24). How the enemy must love this backward lie.

Instead, your Word says the opposite. You teach me to believe little of what I can do in my own strength. That I am desperately needy for you in every moment, just like a branch immediately begins to die when it is seperated from the vine. But that’s okay, because You, Yourself, are the Bread of Life, given to me without price! You invite this thirsty soul to feast with you every morning, sustained by your steadfast love.

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.” Isaiah 55:1-2

What a rich feast is laid before me every morning, if I will only partake! Let me feast on the Bread of life this morning and stop eating bread that does not satisfy.

But where the enemy would have me believe little of the dignity you set on me and little of the work you have for me to do, you lay before me a picture of royal nobility and ambassadorship. Each morning, you clothe me in “the new self, created after the likeness of God” (Eph 4:24). You created me in Your Image, Imago Dei, to be Your royal ambassador to creation. You have given me a royal station, seated me with Jesus in the heavenly places (Eph 2:6) to rule alongside You.

Like David, my mind marvels when I really think about the glory you have placed on mere mortality…

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.” Psalm 8:3-8

What a kind and generous heart you have toward us! Not only do you give us this royal dignity and meaningful work, but you also supply and equip us with everything we need, in every instant of our existence. How solid and assured our hearts should be as we move through life with that kind of a God.

My heart needs to be reminded of these truths constantly. My old self believes that I have things under control. “I can work hard and strategize my way through this day”, I lie to myself. How foolish I am, as if 2020 didn’t show us just how out of control we really are. A microscopic virus and a toilet paper shortage is all it takes to throw the entire world into disorder and shut down any semblance of control I thought I had.

No, I am not in control. And what a relief that is, if I allow it to be! This world is God’s. Instead of building a mirage of control, help me to live all of my life Coram Deo, “before the face of God”. Let me dwell in your presence, Jesus!

Thank you for the meaningful, beautiful work you have laid before me to do today. As Psalm 90:17 says, “Establish the work of our hands.” I can’t establish the work of my own hands. I need you to take the efforts I make and establish them. What a kind blow to my arrogance that is! I am like grass, so quickly revived and so quickly wilted (Psalm 90:6). My efforts accomplish nothing lasting apart from You. But you love to cause the growth. What a comfort it is to know that your heart delights to establish the work of our hands!  May this new day remind me that you are for me, you are with me, and your generosity will establish my work in the simple, everyday life you’ve gifted me.