The Boasting Soul (Psalm 34:2)

 

Monday, July 14, 2025

Psalm 34

1 Samuel 31

John 5:1-18

The Boasting Soul (Psalm 34:2)

My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
    let the humble hear and be glad.

I grew up during the time when video games consoles were starting to become commonplace in people’s homes. It wasn’t as widespread as it is now – plenty of people certainly had plenty of consoles, but it was still enough of a novelty that, while none of us were any good, we were all very excited about it. We would all want to talk about some new game coming out, or some new trick we had learned in a game everyone was playing at the time. And there would always be someone who wanted to be special and make something up. This person is so widespread there is now the famous line to describe them: the type of person that claims “my uncle works at Nintendo”.

Success by association is not usually an admirable trait in a fellow human. There may be some passing interest to learn that you know someone who is the second cousin twice removed of the crown prince of Makebelieveia, or that you buy your coffee at the same coffee shop the current Pope used to work at while he was in seminary. But for someone to make a big deal about that sort of thing isn’t particularly appealing.

What does that make us, then? The Psalmist boasts in his close relationship with God; St Paul boasts only in Christ and the cross; we Christians celebrate the grace of God towards miserable sinners: any success we may claim is entirely because of someone else – the Lord.

Maybe it is because God is so much wiser, so much more powerful, so much more gracious and loving and good than any mere human that we can feel comfortable boasting in the Lord. All us humans are on the same playing field; surrendering our own dignity to be below that of someone else and their success is, to be frank, a little sad. But to surrender our own dignity to the One who can then raise us to a place higher than we were before – that is something else entirely. When we hear of someone boasting about the Lord, we find ourselves in glad agreement, because we know exactly how wonderful the Lord is.

Where do you find your self-worth? What worth does Christ place on your soul?

Lord who hears our prayers, you are near to the brokenhearted and you save the needy: give us humble hearts so that we may know the great worth you place on our souls.