“Praise the Lord who is my rock; He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle. He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in Him…O Lord, what are human beings that You should notice them; mere mortals You should think about them?”—Psalm 144:1-3, NLT
“These boots are made for walkin’,” as the old ‘60s song goes.
But these hands, though— they're something else.
Because hands are a really big deal to God.
After all, He’s got the whole world in His hands (amen to that!)…
“Powerful is Your arm! Strong is Your hand! Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.”
—Psalm 89:13
“It was My hand that laid the foundations of the earth; the palm of My right hand spread out the heavens above; I spoke and they came into being.”—Isaiah 48:13
And so…
“If I ride the morning winds to the farthest oceans, even there Your hand will guide me, Your strength will support me.”—Psalm 139: 9-10
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.”—Psalm 139:13-14
And so…
By His hands, I was made to “lift up holy hands in prayer.”—1 Timothy 2:8
And I was made to live in such a way as this: "Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands…Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live…”—1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
So, remember this, O my soul:
Whenever you clasp your hands in prayer, whenever you lift your hands in worship, whenever you write, whenever you grip the hand of another in fellowship, whenever you create anything with your hands, whenever you play a song or paint a landscape, whenever you applaud in encouragement, whenever you dirty your hands to grow a garden, whenever you offer a hand to someone in need—your hands are a weapon of worship created to bring glory to God...
...And sometimes, when my hands work with the strength of His hands, they fight powers of darkness and declare mysterious things of goodness in the heavenly realm that I never see.
So never think for one second that the works of my hands in His hands—a prayer, a handshake, helping someone lift a heavy load, another day at the office—don’t matter.
Little is much when God is in it, every single routine day.
May my hands serve humbly because it is His strength at work.
But let my hands also serve confidently and joyfully— say it again— because it is His strength at work.
It is a supreme mystery why God uses flawed men and women to do the work of His hands with their imperfect hands and hearts…but He does! So...
"Take my life and let it be consecrated to Thee;
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise;
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet [because, yes, these boots are made for walkin’] and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.”
