Living in the Spirit
July 15, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 89:20-37

I have found my servant David; with my holy oil I have anointed him;
my hand shall always remain with him; my arm also shall strengthen him.
The enemy shall not outwit him, the wicked shall not humble him.
I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him; and in my name his horn shall be exalted.
I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers.
He shall cry to me, “You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!” –Psalm 89:20-26

Our poet today, perhaps David himself, is describing his experience of the very character of God. God is steadfast, enabler, protector, always faithful, always loving, and always present.

It is almost impossible to describe God without our viewpoint being filtered through our own perceptions, but the traits listed here are common among the descriptions shared by all of God’s children. These collective histories provide credence for our understandings of God and lend validity to the importance of living as God’s children in community. We are called to hold each other accountable within the bounds of love.

One of the ways we attempt to bring objectivity to our discussions, important to us scientific era people, is to turn to the Bible in search of inspiration, which is a good thing for this practice includes that wonderful cloud of witnesses, spoken of in the book of Hebrews, to our deliberations. This practice, however, has its pratfalls. The Bible was written in a time when the search for truth were treated differently than the fact bases scientific methods used today.

Such dialogue is difficult. Even in community, we humans are capable of growing synergy for evil as well as for good and God. I love the quote from Abraham Lincoln when challenged to deal with the belief that God was taking sides in the War Between the States, his response was: Sir my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.

Our challenge today is seeking individual and collective communion with God letting our shared experience and knowledge base feed our love for God and for one another as we strive together to be on God’s side.

Prayer: God, and Rock of my salvation, lead me guide me individually enabling me to make whatever contribution I can to your community of faith. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.