Psalm 21:1-7 - March 3, 2009

Ps 21:1-7 "O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give! 2 You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah 3 You welcomed him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. 4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him — length of days, forever and ever. 5 Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. 6 Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the LORD; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken." NIV

This is the psalm of a truly dependent leader. Most leaders rejoice in their own strength, the strength of their political influence, the strength of their following, the strength of their army or some other attribute. The truly dependent leader finds their greatest confidence and strength in the Lord. The Apostle Paul was a tremendous example of this principle in his writings. He has a list of human qualities so full and distinguished that any man would seem to have cause towards pride yet Paul’s focus in 2 Cor 10:17 is "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” His nature was to give God the glory for the successes in his life. The psalmist identifies the dependent leader’s cause for joy; the victories that God has given. Godly leadership can look at even the greatest of victories and realize that every good thing that has been accomplished has been through the help of the Lord. Our joy is to celebrate the accomplishments of the Lord through us!
The truly secure leader is able to live in gratefulness! Here in this psalm David is able to look upon the accomplishments of his life, victories over Goliath and the Philistines, expanding the territories of his people, the establishing of new models of worship, a life of revelation, authoring multitudes of songs and so much more and turn all of the praise towards God. His perspective is that God has welcomed him with rich blessing and that his position of successful leadership was because God placed him there. So many who rise to what the world views as success are quick to point to what their own hands have done yet one of David’s greatest testimonies for the generations to come is his humble acknowledgment that his accomplishments are really the Lord’s accomplishments.
David lived the revelation that it is the Lord who lifts up one and brings down another. He declares the reality that his path has been marked by God giving him victory after victory. When he triumphs he recognizes that the praise of man that follows is because God has brought him glory. His view of the wealth and abundance that he is enjoying is that it came from the gracious hand of God. How different from the heart of Nebuchadnezzar who stood overlooking his kingdom and praising his own greatness. The outcome of his pride was that all of the blessings were taken away until he humbled himself and acknowledged the Lord. What David ultimately celebrates with the greatest sincerity is the gift of God’s intimate presence that has accompanied all of his success. He celebrates God victories and in the same breath he rejoices in his eternal reward and the conscious knowledge of God’s presence that he has been given. This heart is so much like the teaching that Jesus gave to his disciples when they returned from having cast out devils, healed the sick and spread the gospel message. His exhortation to them was Luke 10:20 “do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
A wise heart can recognize where its victories come from and the true source of the blessings that we enjoy.