This past summer, my husband and I had the very blessed opportunity to go to Iceland. Iceland is truly one of the most gorgeous places on this planet. We were there at the summer solstice where the colors of sunset morphed into those of sunrise. We couldn’t tell where one day ended and another began. Psalm 113 took on a new and dynamic meaning.
Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised.
[“Iceland summer” praise that just keeps shining!]
The Lord is high above all nations.
His glory is above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and earth? (Psa. 113:1-6)
We live in the incredibly beautiful state of Colorado. Then there are places like Alaska or Iceland or Patagonia or Hawaii or a myriad of other extremely gorgeous places on this planet. All of these pale compared to what the Apostle John in Revelation, Isaiah and Ezekiel all describe heaven to be like with streets of gold and walls embedded with precious jewels. Psalm 113:6 says that God’s glory is so high and exclusive that all of Heaven and Earth’s wonders are beneath Him. He humbles Himself to [even] behold the things that are in heaven and earth!
So here is our God, perfect and complete without Heaven and Earth. He didn’t/doesn’t need either one, yet He created it all. Even more than humbling Himself to “behold the things that are on earth,” He humbled Himself even further by going to the extreme of stepping down into the dirt of our lives. Philippians 2 tells us, “although He existed in the form of God, [Jesus] did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, [in other words, if He came in His full glory, we couldn’t relate to Him], but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, andbeing made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”(Phil. 2:6-8)
Why would He humble Himself to that extreme and mess with us at all? So we could do life with Him! So He could do life with us!
When God decided to create this world He had something very special in mind. It would be different then heaven with its hosts of angels. I personally believe, unique from all the other planets in all the galaxies that fill the universe. This world was made for humanity and humanity was made for Him. He alone would be God, that was not going to change, but He would invite His most precious creation to join Him in divine partnership.
What is a “partnership”?
We participate in partnership in a variety of relationships: marriage, business, a committee, ministry, and friendships. A partnership can be quite short term, as we work on a specific project together; or it may extend over decades. Partnership is a committed working together to accomplish a common goal; coming together with one heart and one purpose. Partnership sets the relationship apart – makes it unique and dynamic. It is a commitment to doing everything with and for each other and the defined purpose. The greater the commitment the more successful and powerful that partnership will be. A partnership is meant to be ALL IN.
Partnering with God means exactly the same thing. It is a commitment to each other and to a common purpose.
What is the intended purpose of a divine partnership between you and God?
Do you think it is a unique to your partnership with Him or universal? I personally believe it is both universal and unique. Single purpose of oneness, yet dynamic and personal with each one of us.
God is committed to working in partnership. His intent from the beginning was everything He would do, would be with or through individuals like you and me, and everything mankind does is to be with and through Him. He gives us His all so we can give our all to Him and to those He calls us to serve in partnership with Him.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Cor. 9:8) [In the Greek the word translated “every” is the same word translated “all” throughout this verse. Do you think Paul is trying to make a point here?]
What an incredible truth! In this partnership, the Almighty, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-everything God freely offers ALL He is. We in turn must freely offer all we are to Him out of genuine love.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30)
Obviously, ALL is not about equality in what is given, but in how much is given. His intent is His all for our all. That is the foundation of a partnership.
God doesn’t give small. He gives His ALL. He asks only the same of us. My ALL may be nothing compared to His ALL, but it is huge to me and God knows it. His ALL is huge to Him as well. He knows the cost of giving His ALL. How does that impact you that He knows and understands the high cost of ALL?
There is something unique about this divine partnership that I honestly have a hard time wrapping my mind around. He gives us control! It is our individual right to decide yes, no, a little, a lot. Though He is by far the greater one in this divine partnership, He submits to the limits we impose on Him. You control the flow valve: all, none, or some. He wants His all to fill and flow out of us.
He created mankind in perfect partnership - with Himself and with each other. What happened? They decided to go solo They bought into the lie that they could get for themselves all they needed. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Gen. 3:6) They decided they didn’t need to depend on God. The lie Satan sold was God really wasn’t all in – He was holding out on them by withholding the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life (Gen. 2:9) – so they didn’t have to be either. Independence always threatens partnership.
There are three choices:
Independence = I can do it without you.
Dependence = I can’t do it without you.
Partnership = I won’t do it without you.
We forego partnership as we try to do what God asks us to do with Him on our own depending on our own strength and logic. This is usually because we want complete control, assuring compliance to what we want, where, when and how we want it. Or we expect God to do alone what He asks us to do in partnership with Him. It isn’t that God cannot do it alone, but He chooses to include you and me.
Jesus could of gone solo, but didn’t. He partnered with the Father.
Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. (John 5:19)
We too can live and work outside of partnership, but shouldn’t. Truth is many don’t. It is sad how rare partnership truly is. It is our choice. God is looking for partners.
For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. (2 Chr. 16:9)
The verb tense of this verse is one of constant motion, back and forth, to and fro, covering every square inch so nothing is overlooked. He is still looking for someone to partner with Him!
God chooses partnership. It needs to be our choice as well. Even if we can, we won’t. The more we live in partnership with God, the more we discover how little we truly can do without Him.
