March 22

BALANCED HANDIWORK
by Ray Prinzing

"So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands."                                                                       (Psalm 78:72).

David had been taken from following the sheep in the pasture, and placed before Israel to feed them and guide the affairs of the kingdom, and thus we have this verse of tremendous commendation as to how he fulfilled his duties.  If this can be said of man, with all his inherent frailties and weaknesses, how much more can it be said of our God, and the marvelous way He guides our steps, and conforms us to His image, that we might be found to His praise.

"The works of His hands are verity and Judgment." (Psalm 111:7).  Two beautiful operations, blended and applied according to the need as we are being built up into Him.  The word "verity" is literally the word TRUTH. "Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom."  (Psalm 51:6).  Only when this truth is within, permeating the very fiber of our being, until it has become our life, will we be able to fulfill the promise, "and they cannot sin, for His seed remaineth in them," Thus line upon line, precept upon precept, He unfolds the truth and writes it upon our hearts.  We rejoice in the illuminations, through they must be worked out in the practicality of every day living.  So with God's one hand unfolding a new measure of truth, we find that suddenly the other hand comes into operation to balance that work with judgment.

Judgment -- this can become rather startling after a burst of truth -- light has come.  Especially if you thought judgment meant punishment for sin, and start wondering what you did wrong to deserve this.  But judgment doesn't always imply that we have sinned, "for He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." (Psalm 103:10).  Judgment is a process of correction unto righteousness, and He is simply girding us into alignment with the truth we received, so that we become experientially partakers of His reality.  He reveals the standard, then brings us into harmony with that standard.  Balanced handiwork to His glory and praise.