Living in the Spirit
August 20, 2020
Scripture Reading: Psalm 138
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down towards your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything.
On the day I called, you answered me,
you increased my strength of soul.
All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your mouth.
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the Lord.
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;
but the haughty he perceives from far away. –Psalm 138:1-6
I am not sure I have ever considered that the soul possesses strength. My tendency is to think that a soul can be full or empty, not strong or weak. Of course, I have no idea where I picked up that perception. Venturing into Strong’s Concordance, I found that the soul is much more complicated than I realized. The concordance describes the word “soul” used in Psalm 138 as the seat of emotions and passions* and in this instance, refers to joy.
The Hebrew word joy** relates to rejoicing. The Greek word for joy***, as used in the listing of the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)— describes the awareness of God’s grace or favor.
Indeed, I may be overthinking the application of the meaning of words, but the truth is that during this time in our world, I need God’s fullness and strength and grace and favor, and I believe we all do. I grow weary hearing news reports of the chaos in our world. Yet, I care about all those being negatively impacted by circumstances beyond their control, and our failure to address the things we can.
Someone asked me recently if I was happy, and I responded, “no.” I now realize I do rejoice in loving God, who restores my soul in both fullness and strength as a gift of God’s wonderful grace. God does that for all of us when we open our hearts to God.
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side;
bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
leave to your God to order and provide;
in ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: your best, your heav’nly Friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
to guide the future as he has the past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
his voice who ruled them while he dwelt below****.
Prayer: Thank you God for the fruit of the spirit with which you grace us. Amen.
*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5315.htm
** https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2302b.htm
***https://biblehub.com/greek/5479.htm
****First and second verses of Be Still My Soul by Kathrina von Schlegel see at https://hymnary.org/text/be_still_my_soul_the_lord_is_on_thy_side
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.