Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me. –Psalm 54:4
While searching on a website devoted to Johann Sebastian Bach, I found something interesting. It seems that Bach often wrote the letters “JJ” at the beginning of his scores and the letters “SDG” at the end. What did these letters mean? JJ stood for the Latin Jesu Juva, which means “Help o Jesus.” So, it seems that at the beginning of creating his music, Bach was requesting Divine help. SDG stood for the Latin Soli Deo Gloria, which means, “To God alone glory.” It seems that at the end of creating his music, Bach gave thanks to God.
Bach was an extremely gifted composer. Still, despite his talents, he had the habit of asking for Jesus’ help as he began his work and then giving thanks to God when he was finished. This plants within me the desire to be more intentional about including God in my day.
I would think that it would be easy for a person of Bach’s giftedness to take God’s role in their life for granted–to begin to rely on self and to take some time to pat oneself on the back for a job well done! If a person of Bach’s talent and giftedness made it a habit to ask for God’s help and to give God thanks, how much more should we do the same?
In the end, it is to our benefit to be reminded that we are all dependent upon the Lord for everything. We really do need His help! We also benefit from giving thanks to God. It gives us needed perspective to understand that all we accomplish is from God’s gracious hand.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Think about your day yesterday. What can you give God thanks for?
2.What situations or tasks will you face in your life today? Pray and ask God for help in these things.
FURTHER READING:
1 Thessalonians 5:18; James 1:17