Living in the Spirit
November 15, 2017
Scripture Reading: Psalm 123
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
until he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than its fill
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.
Have we as people who identify as God followers lost the ability to walk humbly with our Lord? Have we relegated God to just another strategy to apply as needed to win a political campaign?
I was stunned when I heard someone defending a politician accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl by saying his actions were no different than the actions of Mary and Joseph. The assumption is that God approves the alleged action of the politician. Apparently, the speaker is not well acquainted with the story of the birth of Jesus recorded in Matthew. To the contrary, Joseph went beyond the call of duty by standing by Mary when he had had no sexual relations with Mary saving her from being stoned for becoming pregnant outside of marriage.
It is time for all the people of God to let God be God and for all of us to become the people God created us to be. For most of us that will require repentance and return to God’s leadership.
Prayer: Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than its fill
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.