Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
This verse comes from a prayer spoken by King David near the very end of his life. David was the most celebrated king in Israel's history — a warrior, poet, and leader who built a powerful kingdom. He had deeply wanted to build a grand temple for God, but was told that task would fall to his son Solomon instead. So David spent his final years gathering enormous quantities of gold, silver, and materials for that future temple. As he hands it all over in a public ceremony, he prays this prayer. His central claim: everything he accumulated — the wealth, the power, the honor — ultimately came from God, not from his own strength.
God, I hold tighter than I should, and I confess I sometimes act like it's all mine to protect. Thank you that strength and power are in your hands — not mine to manufacture. Loosen my grip today and teach me to receive what you give and release what you ask for. Amen.
David had more than most people across all of history could imagine — military victories, a kingdom, decades of accumulated wealth. And at the end of it all, he gives it away and prays this. What's striking is the precision of what he says. He doesn't say "God helped me build this" or "God blessed my hard work." He says "wealth and honor come from you." There's a real difference. One is a partnership where you did the heavy lifting and God assisted from the side. The other is a wholesale reframing of who the actual source is. David isn't performing false modesty. He's being accurate about reality. Most of us live somewhere on a spectrum between "I built this" and "this came from you" — and we don't usually announce where we are. But you can feel it. The white-knuckle anxiety when things feel uncertain. The sleepless calculations about how to hold onto what you have. The subtle belief that if you stop managing everything, it will all fall apart. Those are the fingerprints of someone who — underneath the prayer language — believes they're the one holding it all together. David's prayer isn't a ritual. It's an exhale. What would it actually feel like to believe, in your body, not just your theology, that the strength and power are in his hands — and not yours to manufacture?
David says wealth and honor "come from" God — not that God "blesses" our efforts. Is that a meaningful distinction to you, or does it feel like the same thing? What changes if you take it seriously?
What in your life do you find hardest to hold with an open hand right now — and what is it about that particular thing that makes it feel so hard to release?
Does believing God is "the ruler of all things" actually change how you respond when things go wrong — or does that truth feel abstract and unreachable when life gets hard?
This verse says God has the power "to exalt and give strength to all" — which raises uncomfortable questions about inequality. How do you wrestle with the fact that some people have wealth and honor and others don't, if it all comes from God?
If you genuinely believed everything you have came from God and remains in his hands, what is one specific thing — with your time, money, or influence — that you would do differently this week?
Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Romans 11:35
But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Deuteronomy 8:18
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Romans 11:36
Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
2 Corinthians 9:11
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
Ephesians 3:16
And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
2 Chronicles 20:6
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
2 Corinthians 9:8
Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all. In Your hand is power and might; and it is in Your hands to make great and to give strength to everyone.
AMP
Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
ESV
'Both riches and honor [come] from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.
NASB
Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
NIV
Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all.
NKJV
Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.
NLT
Riches and glory come from you, you're ruler over all; You hold strength and power in the palm of your hand to build up and strengthen all.
MSG