We all are taken up with our own work, as we should be. But think about what makes our work meaningful: God Himself has prepared our own specific work just for us. It has His autograph on it. Work is good. God invented it. In fact, He works harder than all of us.

Consider these few verses in Psalm 111 that refer to God’s works. But before we look at them, look at the opening to this psalm: “Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.” And the psalm ends with more praise: “His praise endures forever.” So what is sandwiched in between that praise? In this particular psalm, it’s a whole lot about God’s work.

Verse 2: The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them.

Verse 3: His work is honorable and glorious, and his righteousness endures forever.

Verse 4: He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;

Verse 6: He has declared to His people the power of His works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.

Verse 7: The works of His hands are verity and justice; all His precepts are sure.

God is taken up with His own work, and we are called to praise and admire His work. Not only that, but He has given us plenty of good work to do as well, in imitation of Him. So as we go about our own daily/weekly work, we should keep His works in view: His works are great, honorable, glorious, wonderful, memorable, powerful, true, and just.

When the alarm goes off, and we turn our own hands to our own meager works, we should remind ourselves that we are imitating our good and gracious God in His work. We may feel a little like the toddler with the tool bench, but this pleases Him. We glorify His work, and we glorify Him when we offer all our work to Him. Work is a gift! It is good for our souls to be working for six days and resting for one. Just like He did. The wise woman works. She looks after the many needs of her household, which is a whole lot of work. She is too busy to even think about eating the bread of idleness (31:27). Nor does she want to.

The idle or slothful, on the other hand, is compared to vinegar, smoke (Prov. 10:26), and thorns (15:19). He is a beggar (20:4), conceited (26:16), and poor (24:34). He makes excuses (22:13), takes frequent naps (20:33; 6:9), and is above working (21:25). His home is falling apart (Ecc. 10:18), his fields are overgrown with weeds, and his fences need mending (Prov. 24:31).

We sometimes think that we would work if only our work would have some lasting impact or if it had more significance. And yet look at the picture of the dawn above. It only lasted a few minutes. God throws away His beautiful works on us by the ton. How often do we see them and truly appreciate them? Yet He keeps working.

His praise endures forever!

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