What Do You Rely on for Strength?
- 9 hours ago
- 4 min read
“Do not sweep my soul away with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
in whose hands are evil devices,
and whose right hands are full of bribes.” (Psalm 26:9-10)
What do you rely on for strength?
Before I address that, let me lay a bit of a foundation.
I like to read long portions of scripture at a time. It gives me the 30,000-foot view of God’s word. But, like flying in one of those new-fangled airplanes, I miss important details because I’m not on the ground, up close and personal.
Therefore, it’s good for me to read slowly and digest individual verses, phrases, and even words. To my continual amazement, I find fascinating insights in the details. Imagine that! The above scripture verses gave me pause this morning. Well, actually, one short phrase.
“Whose right hands are full of bribes” (Psalm 26:10)
In ancient Middle Eastern culture, and even today, the right hand is considered the hand of strength. We, right-handed people, understand what that means. I remember clearly the time I broke my right wrist. I was between six and eight years old, racing my bike down my suburban street. The gang and I used to call that The Rat Race—full bore, top speed, and hunched over my Schwinn Rollfast’s handlebars.
Well, as parents often say, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.”
I didn’t see my neighbor’s teenage daughter walk out between the two cars.
Bam!
She was only bruised a bit. I, on the other hand, went flying over the handlebars and landed on the street. Hard. Yeah, my arm hurt, but I was a tough kid and didn’t think much of it, until dinner time. I couldn’t use my right hand to eat. Every time I raised my fork, there was an ache, growing increasingly intense. My parents finally got a clue. After flexing my wrist, my Dad exclaimed, “Yup. Probably broken.” Off to the Emergency Room we went. Sure enough, the X-ray bore testimony to my carelessness. A quick splint and an Ace bandage later, I was home eating ice cream and reconsidering my life choices.
The following weeks were hell. Now, understand that I was just an elementary student learning to write. It was tough enough with a strong right hand. But my left hand? Impossible. I even started doing that thing left-handed people do. You know, curling your arm around the paper in a scribal embrace, just trying to make the letters look like I wasn’t having a seizure.
Again, impossible.
I was so happy to get that miserable, Inquisition-spawned device off my wrist. My strength was restored!
In the scriptures, the right hand is known as the hand of strength. Also, power and authority. When it says that Jesus is at the Father’s right hand (Mark 16:19), it means that Jesus embodies all of the Father’s strength, power, and authority. And by that, I mean all of it (Exodus 15:6).
That said, the verse above implies that the wicked person relies on bribes as his primary source of strength.
There are many times when I’m pulled over for some traffic violation—usually expired tabs, but speeding might also have been a contributing factor—and I wish I could just make the cop go away. Yes, I know bribes are one way to beat the system. No, I’ve never tried that and won’t. But some people have. Why? Because, sadly, bribes work. They can exercise a powerful strength over morally-challenged officials to “look the other way” as an offender gets away with their crime.
You know, standard operating procedure and a great temptation for many elected officials.
That’s what hit me with this verse. Some wicked people find strength by bribing others to do things their way. In some countries around the globe, bribery is how society operates, and it has been a way to exercise financial power to get one’s way.
But as followers of Jesus, we don’t ever have to resort to bribery. Because the One who sits at His Father’s right hand, who embodies the full strength of His Father, all of His power and authority, is our source of strength.
“For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you’” (Isaiah 41:13). Also “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8). Even for the weakest, most helpless person, especially financially, the Lord is their strength, “For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death” (Psalm 109:31).
There is no other source of strength that we should rely on in our lives other than the Lord. Why not rely on the strongest, most powerful, most authoritative source that makes any other supposed source of strength pitiful by comparison? It’s the wicked, godless, or clueless person who makes anything other than the Lord their source of strength.
So, take a moment today to meditate on the source of strength in your life. Does the Son of the Right Hand hold your right hand? If so, then we have nothing to fear, for “even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:10).
The Lord is the only true source of strength we shall ever need.
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Shining the Light of God’s Truth on the Road Ahead
Pastor Jay Christianson
The Truth Barista, Frothy Thoughts