Stolen Valor
Psalm 124
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say—
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
Then they would have swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have gone over our soul;
Then the swollen waters
Would have gone over our soul.”
Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
There has been much in the news recently about “stolen valor.” This is because of the claims of Tim Walz that he was in a combat zone when the closest he got was six months in Italy. There have also been other claims of valor Walz has made that have not been verified.
In 2006, the Stolen Valor Act was passed making it a misdemeanor to misrepresent yourself as having received any U.S. decoration or medal. The penalty was set at six months in prison. If a false claim was made to have received the Medal of Honor the penalty was set at one year in prison. However, in 2012, the Supreme Court ruled the Act was an unconstitutional violation of free speech.
In 2006, there were only 120 known recipients of the Medal of Honor. But there were many more than that claiming to have been awarded the Medal of Honor.
According to the Chicago Tribune there were 20 prosecutions for violation of the Stolen Valor Act in the first 18 months after the Act went into effect.
But do we do the same thing in regard to our God? Do we claim we did this, or we did that, when we know that it was actually God that did it?
This is “stolen valor” in the spiritual realm.
In Psalm 124, we see David giving complete and total credit to God for God’s help and protection. David says, “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us….” Then, David describes the utter devastation, the disaster, that would have been their fate without God. David then ends the Psalm making it clear who he is giving credit to for the help they have received: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.”
There are many examples from the Sport’s world of athletes giving credit to God for their accomplishments. The Christian Post (08.05.24) states in their article that Hunter Armstrong on the U.S. Olympic swim team who has won gold and silver medals in this year’s Olympics “makes God a priority and had no other choice but to turn to Him during one of the hardest times in his life.” In the article it is also reported that Hunter says about God, “I can’t really live without Him.”
King David would agree completely with Hunter Armstrong and they both give complete credit to God for the good in their lives. This is the complete opposite of taking credit for yourself as in “Stolen Valor.”
“Through Jesus let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that praise His Name (Hebrews 13:15.”