“We can’t ask for the favor of the Lord and not do our part to work as hard as we can.”
[Scripture]
[Application]
We work hard each week to ensure that our services are well crafted, well prepared, and well executed. We work hard as worship pastors/musicians/leaders to give the very best of our abilities back to the Lord in worship and that hard work is important. Psalm 90:17 says that the favor of the Lord establishes the work of our hands. It establishes the hard work that we put in. It doesn’t establish our apathy, it doesn’t establish our lack of detail, our casual approach, or our good enough mentality. It establishes the hard work of our hands. So we can’t ask for the favor of the Lord and not do our part to work as hard as we can.
On the other hand the work of our hands will only go so far without the favor of the Lord. We must ask for it. What a great prayer this is in Psalm 90:17. We work hard and then ask God to take our hard work and by his favor establish it. Make it count. Make it matter in a way that we cannot make it matter even with our best efforts.
We must work hard without putting faith in our work. The work is of our hands, but our faith is in the Lord. I’ve heard it said, “Work like it depends on you and pray like it depends on God.” I think that’s a great perspective of Psalm 91:17.
Our hard work established by the favor of the Lord is powerful. Let’s do our part and pray that the Lord will establish the work of our hands by his favor, for his glory, and the good of his church!