| Psalm 10:3–6 There is a confidence that looks like strength but is really blindness. The person pictured in Psalm 10 boasts about what he wants and becomes so certain of himself that he believes nothing will ever shake him. His problem is deeper than prideful words. He has built his sense of security without God. When life is going well, it can be easy for any of us to do the same. We begin trusting our plans, our possessions, our abilities, or even our own goodness, forgetting how quickly the things we depend upon can change. That is why the lyric says, “Yet sand is sand, though paved with gold.” Something does not become a firm foundation simply because it looks impressive. Wealth cannot promise tomorrow. Success cannot protect us from sorrow. Even our best judgment sometimes fails us. Scripture does not tell us this to leave us frightened or insecure. It invites us to place our confidence somewhere better. There is freedom in admitting that we were never meant to hold the whole world together. And there is grace even here. The proud person is not beyond God’s concern, nor should we read this Psalm merely to identify the faults of somebody else. Pride visits all of us. We have all trusted ourselves too much at times, and we have all forgotten the One beneath our feet. Yet God’s grace is greater than our pride. His mercy is not a prize reserved for those who have managed to become worthy of it. Grace comes to us because grace reflects the heart of God. So our confidence changes. We no longer have to say, “Nothing will shake me.” Instead, we can say, “Whatever shakes me, God remains faithful.” That is a very different kind of strength. It does not boast. It does not need to stand above another person. It receives grace with gratitude and then carries that grace into the lives of others. Having freely received mercy, may we freely give it. Be a blessing today. |
What Cannot Be Shaken
We build our walls and call them strong,
We praise ourselves when things go right;
We walk as though the road were ours
And never think we need Your light.
We say, “Tomorrow will be mine.
No storm will ever reach my door.”
But pride can build upon the sand
And never know there must be more.
For what is strength without the truth?
What good is ground that will not hold?
The proud may boast of where they stand,
Yet sand is sand, though paved with gold.
Teach us the strength that does not boast,
The quiet heart that trusts Your way;
The grace You give is not for some,
Your mercy reaches all today.
When we are proud, still You are near.
When we are lost, You seek us still.
Your grace is greater than our pride,
Your love is stronger than our will.
So let our confidence be this:
Not what we own or what we do,
But that beneath our shifting feet
There stands the faithfulness of You.
Let truth, not boasting, mark our lives.
Let mercy shape the words we say.
And having freely tasted grace,
May we become a blessing today.
