Kingdom Building
August 7, 2019
Scripture Reading: Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23
‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt-offerings are continually before me.
Mark this, then, you who forget God,
or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver.
Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me;
to those who go the right way
I will show the salvation of God.’—Psalm 50:22-23
As a former child welfare worker, I testified in court numerous times as witness. Generally, child welfare hearings are just before the judge but on occasion a jury trial took place. In the scripture above the Psalmist writes that the Judge is testifying against the person on trial. Now, in our society, we could get into a legal discussion of the need for a judge who is a witness to a crime recusing herself or himself from also serving as the judge in the case. I am not sure that was true in Israel when the Psalm was written, and I do not question God’s impartiality. The one who loves each and every person is both totally partial and totally impartial. Only such a One who is omniscient can meet the standards for being both witness and judge. God works prospectively and retrospectively to help all of us go the right way.
The challenge is discerning what that right way is. Does our outward, structured worship reflect our way of being or are we just going through the motions? Do we live the love we sing about on Sunday? Do we seek God’s guidance regarding what is the right way? Do we turn around and change our ways when we realize we have gone the wrong way?
Working horses are often outfitted with blinders that limit their peripheral vision, so they are not distracted from plowing a straight row. We, too, need to protect ourselves from distractions that impact our going the right way. We also must consider that the blinders we protect ourselves with may not be in sync with God’s right way. For example, white privilege is certainly an area with which many of us must struggle as we attempt to assess the right way regarding racism.
Prayer: God of Love, Mercy, and Justice, guide us in understanding the full nature of your way, and your truth and our lives in you as we strive to do the right thing. 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.