May 6, 2025 / 0 comments

A Different “Oh”

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord restores his people,
    let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

  • Psalm 14:7

I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
    Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
    upright and just is he.

  • Deuteronomy 32:3-4

Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

  • Psalm 37:3-4

“Before God’s commandment
human beings are not, like Hercules,
permanently at the crossroads;
they do not eternally wrestle
with the right decision.

The “oh” of our wishes
and the “oh” of prayer
are two different things.”

  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I Want to Live These Days with You (introduction to the February devotions, devotions compiled from his writings)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s poem might sound a little different in German, maybe even rhyme.

But when I read it this morning, it hit a nerve.

We might think or even pray, ‘Oh, how I want this.  Oh, how I need that.’  But do we really want this?  Is it good for us?  Does it further God’s kingdom?  Is it God’s will?  And do we really need that?  If we needed it, God would have provided it.

It’s funny.  Not really funny.  I was turned down for consideration of a job because I had worked for NASA.  NASA is big business.  Their little company had little to no budget.  I explained how NASA taught me to work without the funds to get the work done.  I had projected that I needed a staff of sixteen to eighteen people to complete the work my last year on the project.  The project was cancelled before the end of the year, and they had not hired anyone.  I was doing the work of sixteen people up to the point when the word came that the project was cancelled.  John Glenn had joked about how NASA did its work using the low bidder.  At times, the joke was not funny.

I say that to explain that we all think that we need something.  And maybe life would be a bit easier.  But, far too often, God does not wish for our lives to be easy.  Easiness leads to complacency far too often.

But, when we are in prayer, and the walls seem to be caving in on us, then we say, “Oh, God, I need you!”  And when the walls do not cave in and we are safe, we pray, “Oh, God, thank you and praise your Name.”

The exclamatory word is the same.  Oh!

But oh, how different the word is in context.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.

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