As for the saints who are on the earth, They are the majestic ones; all my delight is in them.
New American Standard Bible (Ps 16:3).
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The Magnificent Ones
Last Sunday, Easter Sunday, our church was full of music.
There was a special choir, special songs, and the kind of joy that feels like sunlight after a long rain.
As I looked around the room, I was not just seeing faces. I was seeing stories.
I know many of their stories. I know some of the family pain. Some of the unfair beginnings. Some of the battles they have already fought just to stand there, singing about the risen Christ.
By some standards, they still have a long way to go. Their lives are not polished. Their family systems are often fractured. Their discipleship is still growing.
But wisdom does not only look at how far people still have to go. Wisdom also sees how far they have already come.
And their potential.
I sat there amazed. And humbled by the power of God.
Over the years, I have also seen something else: unpolished Christians often carry extraordinary influence among their own people. Sometimes more than anyone else.
Brennan Manning once said that the greatest argument for Christianity is transformed Christian lives. The greatest argument against it is also Christians, when we deny with our lives what we say with our lips.
I think David would understand that.
David’s way of seeing
“As for the saints who are in the land, they are the magnificent ones in whom is all my delight.”
David is speaking covenant language. Kingdom language.
He is saying, in effect: My heroes are not the glittering heroes of the culture. My delight is in God’s people.
That is not how most of us naturally drift.
It is easy to admire celebrities we do not know. It is easy to excuse the lives of public people who impress us from a distance. And it is very easy to become impatient, critical, and sharp with the real people God has actually placed in our lives.
A family member fails us, and we write them off. A church leader sins, and disappointment spreads like smoke. Someone close to us irritates us, disappoints us, or reminds us of our own weaknesses, and criticism comes easily.
But David points in another direction.
These are my people. These are the ones I will honor. Not because they are flawless. Not because they are finished. But because they belong to God, and God has placed them in my life.
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A Few of our Magnificent Ones
Adriana, on the far left, was a young girl who helped us find our house when we were so new to Marabá that we got lost. Today, she is a pillar in the church and community.
Bruna, on the far right, is Ivanildo and Monica’s daughter. She was a child when her family moved here to help us plant this church. Today she is a strong leader.
Easter Sunday breakfast together is a long-standing Marabá church tradition. Each person in that gathering carries an incredible story.
When we first moved into this neighborhood, it was notoriously dangerous. It is better now, but extreme violence still happens, and when it does, it ripples outward.
But transformed lives ripple outward too.
And those ripples are stronger than many people realize.
On Sunday night, two shy girls in pink dresses came forward to give their hearts to Jesus. Quietly.
Tenderly. They formally joined the team that transforms neighborhoods.
That is how the Kingdom often grows, with trembling steps and brave little yeses.
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Who are “Your People”?
Jesus answers that question in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Your people are the people God has placed along your road.
Your spouse.
Your children.
Your parents.
Your siblings.
Your extended family.
Your church family.
Your neighbors.
Your coworkers.
Your classmates.
The people you regularly encounter in the ordinary places of life.
These are not interruptions to your spiritual life. They are a large part of your spiritual life.
And this is where Psalm 16 becomes painfully practical.
We know what they said.
We know what they did.
We know where they are immature.
And if we are honest, sometimes what bothers us in them touches something unresolved in us.
That is why delight sometimes takes discipline.
Prayer for our people takes discipline.
Honoring them, both privately and publicly, takes discipline.
Refusing contempt takes discipline.
It is the path of life.
One practical habit that has helped me
Many years ago, I began doing something simple.
I made a list of people in my life. Over time it has grown to more than 500 names. These are people I know, people I influence, people God has placed somewhere along my road.
Each morning, I review that list and pray something like this:
Lord, I want to serve these people. Show me how to bless them. Show me if there is anything I need to make right. Teach me how to walk toward them with honor.
That changed something in me.
I also made another kind of list. It is a living list of the things I believe God has given me to do:
Assignments.
Dreams.
Responsibilities.
Burdens.
Desires that seem to belong under His hand.
I now call it Our Work Orders and Commitments.
Together, these two lists help me live with greater clarity:
Serve your people. Do your assignment. Leave the rest with God.
Honor is not the same as enabling
This matters.
Honoring people does not mean doing for them what they should do for themselves.
A loving parent does not take the driving test for the child. A wise friend does not feed someone’s irresponsibility. A mature Christian does not confuse service with unhealthy overfunctioning.
Real love helps people grow.
Sometimes that means helping.
Sometimes that means waiting.
Sometimes that means saying no.
Sometimes that means extending an olive branch without demanding an immediate response.
Love is not the same as losing your boundaries.
How do we know what to do?
Psalm 16 gives remarkable reassurance.
“I will bless the Lord who has advised me.” There is wisdom already given.
“Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.” There is present guidance.
“You will make known to me the path of life.” Future direction is still coming.
We do not need to solve every relationship by next Tuesday.
We do need to stay oriented toward God, toward honor, and toward love.
A practical invitation for this week
If you do not yet have a list like this, consider making one.
Start with your closest circle, then move outward:
Family
Extended family
Church
Neighbors
Coworkers
Friends
People you regularly encounter
Then pray over that list.
Ask the Lord:
What would it look like to treat these people as “the magnificent ones”?
Where do I need to honor more?
Where do I need healthier boundaries?
Where do I need to stop criticizing and start praying?
You may not feel all of it at first.
That is all right.
Walk with your convictions, and let your feelings follow when they are ready.
The saints in the land are not perfect. But David saw them as his delight.
I can see God smiling when He heard that.
Like I smile when someone talks well about our family.
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Deanna spent Easter with relatives on their ranch in Alberta, along with Tim, Bella, and the grandtwins.
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On Easter Sunday they visited Richie and Christie’s church. The Bouthilliers served with us in Brazil for more than twenty years, and now pastor in High River, Alberta.
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Prayer Requests
Please pray with us:
That God would give us continued wisdom for this next season of life.
That more church planters and community transformers would hear and respond to God’s call.
Sometimes people are simply waiting for an invitation, permission, or an opportunity. We have seen for decades that helping launch people into their calling is one of the most fulfilling ways to spend our lives on the way to heaven. May we become the inviters, permission givers, and opportunity makers.
The harvest field is ripe in the Amazon Basin.
The harvest fields are ripe in many regions.
Let’s ask the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers, and to show each of us our part.
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Prayer
Lord,
Teach us to see people the way You do.
Save us from the voices that magnify faults and grant us hope that encourages others to reach for their potential.
Show us how to honor the people You have placed in our lives
without enabling what is unhealthy,
without retreating into resentment,
and without pretending what is false.
Give us wisdom for each relationship.
Give us courage to bless.
Give us grace to make things right where we can.
And when our emotions lag behind, keep our feet on the path of life.
