Anyone who reads the whole Bible notices attributes of God and his culture that, by their repetition, stand out in the mind and get stuck in the heart. One of the most noticeable attributes is HONOR. God loves honor. He models honor, he teaches his children to honor, and he asks for honor. He promises to honor those who honor him (1 Samuel 2:30).
The most visible culture of honor in the United States today is the military. Watching our son serve in the U.S. Army for twenty-three years, we learned a lot about how honoring behavior is demanded of those who serve. Honor is built into military culture. One can only presume that honor is commanded and modeled with the hope that this will mold the very character of the soldier.
Some new recruits push back and rebel — at least inwardly — out of a value to guard their own individual freedom. For them, honor is extended only as an outward show to get by and stay out of trouble. For others, honor does indeed become the fabric of the soul, willingly embraced, and carried forward into the rest of their relationships.
What some may not understand is that honor is not only right, it is rewarding. The honor we extend to others, whether God or parents, employers or co-workers, gives something back to us. In the first place, honor builds strength in us as we give it, because honoring others requires a certain humility, a willingness to treat others as better than ourselves Second, honor, like kindness, tends to evoke a reciprocal response. When others show honor to us, it not only makes us feel good, seen or appreciated; it inspires us to give that same gift to others.
A culture of honor thrives among the willing.
In David’s great song of repentance and returning to God, he wrote these words:
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalms 51:10-12, NIV.
I mention this here because the phrase “willing” in the original Hebrew marries the idea of honor to freedom. It speaks of a spirit that is not merely willing to serve, but honored to do so. David is asking God to restore in him an honoring spirit that freely serves God. This was important to David because he recognized he had come to his moral failure through ceasing to honor God. He had, by his actions, demonstrated an unwillingness to honor the laws of the kingdom, and the men who soldiered under him.
Consider as well, the question of Why does David say ask for a willing spirit to sustain me? Before his season of failure, David had walked in honor for years. He experienced firsthand the rewards of having a heart that honored God and others. In some mysterious way, honor sustained David in a way he recognized — in life, in strength, in relationships, in joy.
Frankly, the relationship of willingness to honor and strength is better experienced than explained. I had to try, just to raise your awareness.
Honor freely given is the very fabric of God’s heart. The person who would understand the ways of his God could make no better beginning than embracing this truth.
