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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Sunday, 15 March 2026:
Psalm 115:1 — Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
This is the right starting point for worship, ministry, leadership, and life itself: not to us, but to God. God does not share His glory. If you are drawing attention to yourself, you are drawing attention away from Jesus. That is one reason believers should be careful about self-centered speech. A life shaped by grace says less about “I” and “me” and more about Him.
The ground of God’s glory here is His steadfast love and faithfulness. He is not praised merely because He is powerful, but because His power is joined to covenant mercy. Jesus lived this perfectly. He never sought self-glory but consistently magnified the Father. John the Baptist understood the same principle: He must increase, but I must decrease.
“…for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” Understand that love and faithfulness can only exist where God is lifted up higher than anyone or anything else. This is what Jesus was trying to help people understand when He said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26) He wasn’t saying we should truly hate our families and ourselves, He was saying that our love for Him should be so great, our love for everyone else (which was assumed to be great) would look like hate comparatively. Why? Because only when we love God as we should can we truly love others as we should. He is Love; He is the source of all love, and He reveals how to truly love. Only when we love Him and like Him can we give love. Otherwise, we become consumers of love, taking love from those we claim to love, rather than actually giving them true love. Only when we “lose” our lives to God who is Love, do we gain our lives and experience love.
“…for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” God’s steadfast love and faithfulness are inseparable from His glory. Love and faithfulness can only exist in their true form where God is lifted up higher than anyone or anything else. When God occupies His rightful place at the center, love flows in its proper order. When He is displaced, love becomes distorted.
This is what Jesus was helping people understand when He said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). Jesus was not commanding literal hatred toward family or self. Throughout Scripture we are commanded to honor parents, love spouses, care for children, and even love our enemies. What Jesus was teaching is the necessity of supreme allegiance to God. Our love for Him must be so great, so central, and so defining that every other love — even the deepest human relationships — appears small by comparison. When God is loved first and most, every other relationship falls into its proper place.
Why is this necessary? Because God is love (1 John 4:8). He is not merely loving; He is the source, definition, and standard of love itself. Apart from Him we cannot truly understand love, and we certainly cannot sustain it. Only when we love God as we should can we love others as we should. When He is first, His character shapes our character. His patience, mercy, sacrifice, and truth begin to define how we treat others. But when God is not first, something subtle but destructive happens: love becomes self-centered. Instead of giving love, we begin consuming it.
In that condition we look to others to supply what only God can give. We draw emotional energy, affirmation, identity, and fulfillment from the people around us. What appears to be love often becomes dependency or demand. We end up taking love from those we claim to love, rather than actually giving them true love.
Jesus therefore calls His followers to something radical: the surrender of the self-centered life. Only when we “lose” our lives to God — the One who is Love — do we actually gain our lives. Jesus said the same truth plainly: “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).
When God is first, love becomes pure, stable, and life-giving. When God is first, we no longer need to extract love from others to sustain ourselves; we are filled by the One who is its source. And from that fullness we are finally able to love others freely, sacrificially, and faithfully.
This is why the psalmist directs all glory to God alone. When God’s glory is central, His steadfast love and faithfulness flow rightly through every part of life. Not to us, O Lord — but to Your name give glory.
Psalm 115:2-8 — Why should the nations say, Where is their God? Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases… Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands…
The nations mock because they cannot see God physically, but the psalmist answers with sovereignty: our God is in the heavens, and He does all that He pleases. He is not limited, manipulated, or fashioned by human hands. Idols, by contrast, are speechless, sightless, lifeless. And those who trust them become like them. That remains true today. People become like what they worship. If they worship dead things, they become spiritually deadened. If they worship the living God, they become alive.
Psalm 113 already declared that the Lord is high above all nations and His glory above the heavens. What happens when a nation declares God’s laws unconstitutional? Nothing happens to God. His authority is unchanged. What changes is the nation’s alignment with reality. The rejection of God’s law does not weaken God; it exposes the rebellion of man.
Psalm 115:9-11 — O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield… You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
The repeated command is trust. If you believe in Jesus, then trust in Jesus. If you trust Him, you will obey Him daily. Trust is not sentimental agreement; it is surrendered action. God is help and shield, not merely in theory but in living reality. He proves Himself trustworthy.
Psalm 115:12-16 — The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us….
God remembers His people. His blessings are covenantal, not accidental. He is high above all, yet attentive to those who fear Him. The heavens (and all things) belong to the Lord, but the earth He has entrusted to man under His authority. Humanity flourishes only under God’s dominion.
Psalm 115:17-18 — The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence. But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the LORD!
Salvation gives spiritual life, and spiritual life praises God. The dead do not praise the Lord, but the redeemed do now and forever. Eternal life is not merely endless existence; it is living fellowship with God expressed in worship. Those who belong to Christ are brought from silence to praise.
Proverbs 2:1-5 — My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you… then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
This chapter lays out the conditions under which a person grows in the fear of the Lord, the knowledge of God, and true wisdom. Proverbs is about the practical application of wisdom. Wisdom is closely associated with skill, not merely theory. It is knowledge rightly applied with understanding that exceeds personal experience, understanding empowered by the Holy Spirit. Obedience is the practical application of truth which produces tangible results from intangible realities. Jesus said, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21) Obedience is the path to coming to know Him and experiencing Him in your life today, now.
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8) Success in life requires both good decision-making and the self-control to follow through. Wisdom helps you decide rightly; discipline helps you carry it out. Both are ultimately fruits of the Spirit, not merely products of intellect.
The chapter begins with conditions. You must receive God’s words. Many resist this because God’s Word often commands what the flesh does not want to hear. Sin can seem pleasurable for a season, and the heart will often perform mental gymnastics to make God’s Word fit its desires. But all God’s words are true, not merely agreeable. But think about it, do you really want a God who always agrees with you? The god who always agrees with you is you. Have you realized yet what a terrible God you really are? Don’t try to shape God’s word to justify your beliefs and behavior. Adjust your beliefs and behavior to God’s word, and The Word, Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
Beyond merely receiving God’s word, you must also treasure God’s commands. That means reading, studying, memorizing, and storing them up. Never has the Bible been more accessible, yet many spend far more time studying the teachings of men than the Word of God. Believers are Christ’s ambassadors and royal priests; they are obligated to know Scripture well enough to handle it rightly and answer those who ask for the reason for their hope.
Then you must incline your heart, call out for insight, and seek wisdom like treasure. Study and prayer are inseparable. The Holy Spirit must illuminate what the mind alone cannot produce. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God.
This is a good place for self-examination: what are you really seeking? What do you treasure? What are you crying out for?
If your heart is inclined towards God’s word, your actions will be God’s will done because people do what they really want to do. Nothing will be able to stop you from doing what God wants. Conversely, if your life isn’t a manifestation of God’s character and will, it is only because your desires aren’t His desires – you don’t really want what God wants because you don’t share His heart and mind.
- Romans 2:13 — For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
- James 1:22 — But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
- John 15:5, 9-10 — I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
Proverbs 2:4-6 — If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom….
Wisdom comes only from God. Not everyone has the same talent or resources, but everyone has equal access to God’s wisdom through the Spirit. Character, not talent, determines lasting success.
Developing wisdom is a lifelong endeavor. Let the wise hear and increase in learning. Pride stops learning. Humility keeps growing. The Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. The question is simple: who are you listening to?
Proverbs 2:7-8 — He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity….
For whom is God a shield? For those who walk in integrity. God’s shield does not protect the person who refuses to stand behind it. Integrity matters. Not perfection, but wholeheartedness. A person who wants God’s protection while disregarding God’s ways is deceiving himself.
Proverbs 2:9-10 — Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart….
A person cannot understand justice and equity apart from God’s Word. Wisdom is not merely mental. It must move from the head into the heart, guided by the Spirit. Knowledge alone is not enough. Information is not transformation. Wisdom is knowledge controlled by love and applied with love, and since God is love, wisdom deepens as we become more united with Him. Additionally, wisdom must be guided by the Spirit, which sees truth beyond our human perception, truth required for a good decision. You can have the knowledge of the truth and a hear t for the truth to act in obedience, but perception limitations can cause us to misdirect good intentions. So, we must always remain humble, prayerful, and receptive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Just because we are right in our own minds doesn’t mean we are right in actuality.
God’s Word points you to the Word of God, Jesus Christ. The goal is not merely becoming a “better person” but entering more deeply into relationship with Him.
Proverbs 2:11-12 — Discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you…,
When wisdom enters the heart, discretion begins to guard your life. This is sagacity, the ability to foresee likely consequences without having to suffer every mistake firsthand. Obedience to God helps you avoid much needless pain and suffering. Most trouble in life is self-induced. God’s Word guards those who obey it.
Proverbs 2:13-19 — So you will be delivered from the way of evil… from men of perverted speech… from the forbidden woman….
Wisdom separates. It takes you away from crooked speech, corrupt companions, and sexual sin. God’s Word becomes a natural filter for relationships. Bad company corrupts good character, while iron sharpens iron. The narrow road is not crowded. If you walk in wisdom, you will naturally and normally walk differently and away from the majority. Do you believe the truth enough to stand alone in it with confidence and boldness?
Verse 17 is especially searching: the adulterous woman forgets the covenant of her God. Marriage covenant and covenant with God are tied together. If you are married, how you treat your spouse reveals much about your spirituality. Grace received from Christ becomes most visible in grace extended at home.
Proverbs 2:20-22 — So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous….
There are two roads. One is narrow and leads to life. The other is broad and leads to destruction. Again, God’s Word will take you down a different path than the one most people are traveling. If you walk in the light, you will find yourself in the company of others who love the same path, and they will strengthen you.
The knowledge and relationship with the Lord must be cultivated over time. You reap what you sow, but not when you sow. At the time of need, you will only have at your disposal what you have invested in over time. If you have not planted the right seeds, today is the day to begin.
Do not be complacent with God’s commands. The complacency of fools destroys them.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 15 March 2026: Today, give God the glory in both speech and practice. Refuse self-promotion. Let “not to us” govern your posture. Then pursue wisdom intentionally: receive God’s Word, treasure it, pray over it, and obey one command you already know. Do not wait for deeper understanding before acting on what God has already made clear. Walk the narrow path on purpose. Praise the Lord with the spiritual life He has given you, and let His Word move from your head to your heart, and from your heart into your hands, feet, mouth, and choices.
Pray: “Heavenly Father, Not to me, but to Your name give glory. Guard me from drawing attention to myself in ways that take attention away from Jesus. Teach me to praise You with my words, my decisions, and the direction of my life. Make me hungry for Your wisdom. Help me receive Your Word when it confronts me, treasure it in my heart, cry out for understanding, and obey what You show me. Keep me from the pride of mere knowledge and lead me into Spirit-given understanding that changes my heart, guards my path, and shapes my character. Protect me from complacency, worldly entanglement, corrupt influences, and the deception of sin. Let Your Word become pleasant to my soul and powerful in my life. Draw me into deeper fellowship with Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Thank You for giving me life so that I can bless You now and forever. Keep me trusting You, obeying You, praising You, and walking closely with You one day at a time. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”
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