Psalm 71

My Old Testament professor in Seminary was Dr. John Stek. When teaching on the Psalms, he noted something C.S. Lewis also noted: a lot of the time God more or less demands to be praised. But isn’t that a bit off-putting? Do we care for people in life who seem always to be sucking around for a compliment? Isn’t it a bit vain and self-centered to ask for ongoing praise? Well, all things being equal yes but consider, Stek suggested, this scenario: suppose a single mother worked day and night to provide for her son, Charlie. She worked in a factory by day and cleaned toilets in an office building by night to give Charlie good food to eat, nice clothing to wear to school, and all the other things a young kid might need and want. But then suppose Charlie is a bit of an ungrateful clod. He never notices how hard his Mom works, never thanks her, and even seems a bit entitled and is not infrequently a bit rude to his mother. Now, suppose one day this mother said, “Charlie, I deserve better than this from you. I deserve far more respect and quite a bit more gratitude than you ever express to me.” Would we conclude this was a vain, egotistical woman on account of asking for a bit of thanks from her child? Hardly. So also with God: God can dare ask for our praise because due to our sin we are like Charlie: we just often miss seeing how much God gives us. We need to be reminded of how much has been given to us already and on an ongoing basis...