Psalm 20:7

"Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God."

Matt Laney

Warning: This devotion is rated PG-13.

Here's a bit of completely useless, sexist, TV trivia to start off your day:

When the alien Mork (played by a young Robin Williams) travels back in time to visit Arthur "the Fonz" Fonzarelli (played by Henry Winkler) on "Happy Days," the Fonz has only one question about the future: cars and girls.  Mork grins and says, "Both faster!"

Not the most enlightened view but then again, maybe we haven't evolved all that much since 1979.  Today, many advertisements for the latest hot rod ("hot rod" - need I say more?) feature a young, barely-clad female looking as though she just can't get enough of that car.  Yeah right.

Likewise, the psalmist certainly had men in mind when he wrote the above verse.  After all, pride over sweet, fast rides - cars, chariots or horses - is far more likely to infect men than women.  Feminist criticism would agree and take it a step further to say that pride is a uniquely male sin while self-deprecation is the chief sin of women.

That could be.  But thinking too much or too little of ourselves might be equal expressions of being lost in and consumed by ourselves.  Any identification with an object, relationship or self-concept apart from God is sure to get us nowhere fast.

Sin isn't only the doing of bad things; it's making anything into an ultimate thing.  People of faith are distinguished by faith… in the most ultimate reality there is.

Prayer

Holy One, may our pride be in you and you alone.

About the Author
Matthew Laney is the Senior Minister of Asylum Hill Congregational Church, UCC, in Hartford, Connecticut.