"A Good Man's Prayer"

"And when He was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to Him, and asked Him, Good Master, what shall I do that I might inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto Him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up thy cross, and follow me." (Mark 10:17-21) As you may have remembered from our previous discussion about this "Rich Young Ruler", it is believed by many that the one who came running and kneeling to Jesus was none other than Mark himself. The other accounts of this same encounter are vague as far as the feelings involved; however, they do specify that he was a rich young ruler, whereas this one does not. The title above Psalms 126 in my Bible, as you may have guessed, is, "A Good Man's Prayer"; and as Jesus stated above, "there is none good but one, that is God"; therefore, I have pondered this morning about what it is that makes this "A Good Man's Prayer". One of the parallels between this Psalm and that of the previous one, is that of being willing to surrender all; and in so doing, we are able to stand upright before God. It is not our righteousness before God that makes us good, but rather, our willingness to surrender all that is unrighteous before Him. Just as the example that is given with the saying, "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24), we must be willing to understand and confess our weaknesses before the Lord, and come to the place where we know how much we need Him to strengthen us and complete us; because without His power influencing our lives, we are going to fail. It is an assurance that is given unto us, over and over, and as many times as we need to reach out for it, that if we humble ourselves, confess our sins before Him, and turn from that sin, then He will make us "Good"; that we can be assured of... "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)