A Skilled Workman

Psalm 40: 1 – 17

A skilled workman

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

1 I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. 3 He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear and will trust in the LORD. 4 Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. 5 Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, tThey are more than can be numbered. 6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.” 9 I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know. 10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly. 11 Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. 12 For innumerable evils have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; Therefore, my heart fails me. 13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me! 14 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who seek to destroy my life; Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor who wish me evil. 15 Let them be confounded because of their shame, who say to me, “Aha, aha!” 16 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!” 17 But I am poor and needy; Yet the LORD thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.

As the U.S. economy begins to show signs of improvement, executives say they need a workforce fully equipped with skills beyond just the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic (the three Rs) to grow their businesses. Skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity and innovation (the four Cs) will become even more important to organizations in the future.

As the current administration is proposing sweeping education reform, executives are shedding light on a set of skills—the four Cs—that have been identified by major players in industry as being crucial to workforce preparedness and business success.

“As we move toward reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and common state standards, it is clear education reform must focus on fusing the three Rs and four Cs if every student is to succeed in today’s and tomorrow’s world”.

According to the survey results, executives said that within their organizations these skills and competencies are considered priorities for employee development, talent management and succession planning. In fact, the majority agreed that their employees are measured in communication skills (80.4%), critical thinking (72.4%), collaboration (71.2%), and creativity (57.3%) during annual performance appraisals. In addition, job applicants are assessed in these areas during the hiring process.

Now, as a human resource manager how would you feel about a candidate who Is proficient (scores 100%) in every area. You might respond, ‘Not humanely possible.’ I would say, ‘You are right. No human fits that category. Yet there Is One Who Is alive and does fit every category at 100 %. He Is the perfectly skilled workman. You know His Name. He Is ‘All Powerful’ and ‘All knowing’. Yes He Is The Holy Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The key verse that stuck out to me in today’s scripture is verse 5 “Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done.”

Let us take some time and watch our Skilled Precious Holy Spirit work through His Holy Word.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

This Psalm is offered to the person responsible for the sacred music, or the choirmaster, and is of the Davidic collection. ‘To (or ‘for’) David’ may indicate that it was dedicated to David, written for the Davidic house, or even written by David himself.