“Lord, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea! Don’t turn away from me in my time of distress. Bend down to listen, and answer me quickly when I call to you. For my days disappear like smoke, and my bones burn like red-hot coals. My heart is sick, withered like grass, and I have lost my appetite. Because of my groaning, I am reduced to skin and bones. I am like an owl in the desert, like a little owl in a far-off wilderness. I lie awake, lonely as a solitary bird on the roof. My enemies taunt me day after day. They mock and curse me. I eat ashes for food. My tears run down into my drink because of your anger and wrath. For you have picked me up and thrown me out. My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows. I am withering away like grass. But you, O Lord, will sit on your throne forever. Your fame will endure to every generation. You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem— and now is the time to pity her, now is the time you promised to help. For your people love every stone in her walls and cherish even the dust in her streets. Then the nations will tremble before the Lord. The kings of the earth will tremble before his glory. For the Lord will rebuild Jerusalem. He will appear in his glory. He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas. Let this be recorded for future generations, so that a people not yet born will praise the Lord. Tell them the Lord looked down from his heavenly sanctuary. He looked down to earth from heaven to hear the groans of the prisoners, to release those condemned to die. And so the Lord’s fame will be celebrated in Zion, his praises in Jerusalem, when multitudes gather together and kingdoms come to worship the Lord. He broke my strength in midlife, cutting short my days. But I cried to him, “O my God, who lives forever, don’t take my life while I am so young! Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever; they will wear out like old clothing. You will change them like a garment and discard them. But you are always the same; you will live forever. The children of your people will live in security. Their children’s children will thrive in your presence.””
Psalms 102:1-28 NLT
There is a place in the kingdom of God for those whose weakness is because they need him. This is not to say that we ought to be weak, but instead that we ought to bold and capable and determined. Yet, for all the glory one man can achieve at his maximum potential, there will never be a day where he can stand before God and say he doesn’t need him. There will never be a day when standing next to God that he might measure himself fairly as intimidating or imposing. God will, by his ontology, always dwarf any effort and all efforts. For many this is a source of discomfort. For many rebellion. For some jealousy. But it cannot, for the Christian, be a source of contention. We are a feeble creature, despite our pride and our noble creator. God does not look down upon us for acknowledging our folly. He does not shun us for knowing our limits. So long as this moment returns us to him. On the contrary, he take his glory and gives it to us. We can be larger than the sum of our parts by allowing ourselves to be as small as we really are, and join with him. When we are weak, there is a sure strength afforded to us. These two things can coexist without conflict in our Christian faith. Let us be strong enough to be weak enough.
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