My Work Is ... (Psalm 45)

by R. Darke, Victoria, B.C. | Category: General | Aug 1986

There is a man in Scripture who lost his life through jealousy and rebellion. If his sights had been raised to the devotional level of his later progeny, he would have been a happy, contented man of vision. Our contrast is between Korah, whose death is recorded in Numbers 16, and the sons of Korah for whom Psalm 45 was written probably 400 years later. Korah's heart was filled with haughtiness, discontent, ambition, bitterness which led to such tragic circumstances that his name is linked with two of history's worst reprobates, Cain and Balaam (Jude v.11). But the sons of Korah sing from hearts that are not only filled but bubbling over with gracious, beautiful, loving; joyful things concerning the king, for that is the meaning of "goodly" (Ps. 45:1). If only Korah had said, "My work is for a king" (v.1 RVM); what a different outcome there could have been. But he had things in wrong perspective; his sights were not raised above his discontent and selfish ambitions. The sad conclusion is that his work was for himself.

The sight which greeted Nehemiah when he arrived at Jerusalem after a wearying journey of months, would have broken the spirit of many other great men. Untouched rubble, burned gates, broken wall, and a dispirited

people. Chaos in contrast to the orderly array of the palace and environs of Shushan, which he had left. Instead of despair or defeat he met the enormity of the task in the spirit of the words: "My work is for the King". Before he ventured out from Shushan he had spent time in the King's presence weeping, mourning, fasting, praying, and pleading with Him to remember the promise to His people if they returned to the land (1:9). It is no surprise, then, to hear from such a man these words: "... the hand of my God which was good upon me ... so they strengthened their hands for the good work (2:18)... So we built the wall ... So we wrought in the work; and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared (4:6,21)... Yea, also I continued in the work (5:16)... So the wall was finished ... in fifty and two days (6:15)". Against mockings, tauntings, threats, and devious plots by the enemy, Nehemiah and his people completed a memorable task against almost insurmountable odds. They climbed their mount Everest and reached the top. Their flag might have said, "Excelsior", but instead it read, "My work is for the King".

A missionary to China wrote home to his parents outlining his grim prison ordeal. The details were not pleasant, but each paragraph ended with the triumphant words: "The Lord reigneth". This was the way he kept things in perspective. He recognized with the Psalmist:"...my work is for a king". When our earliest Christian forbears were challenged to declare: "Caesar is king", they replied: "Jesu Christos Rex", Jesus Christ is King! Their bold assertion led to death in the arena, torture at the stake, or being stretched mercilessly on the rack. Instead of slowing down progress in the gospel and the truth, it seemed to accelerate it, to the ire of their Roman tormentors. These Christian disciples did not need to declare "my work is for the King", for their very lives proclaimed it.

What of today's spiritual royal family? those who comprise the little flock, to whom was given the kingdom (Luke 12:32) - those proclaimed by Peter as a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9)? We are not thrown into prison, tortured or massacred because we pledge our allegiance to Jesus as King. Yet, it is still essential that we recognize, and others know, that our work is for the King. It is so easy to be discouraged and depressed by society's response to the word of God; easy for apathy, malaise to replace our former zeal; to lose faith in the effort of distributing leaflets, and in the personal work of sharing Christ with a desperate, needy world. Perhaps we need to convince ourselves on a personal basis that "my work is for the King".

On the positive side there are Christians who cheerfully fill jobs which need more grace than others. Nursing care, for example, in the home, in hospital, or at geriatric centres, where very unpleasant tasks have to be undertaken. How depressing and discouraging such work can be if it is not undertaken in the spirit of, "my work is for the King". This realization, with all its encouragement, enables us to bring our lives into perspective, with the added help in these words of Paul: "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not vain in the Lord" (1 Cor. 15:58).

Let us then rejoice! Let our hearts overflow with joy, grace, beauty the goodly things! The Lord reigneth! My work is for the King!

R. Darke, Victoria, B.C. | Aug 1986
General