Living in the Spirit
September 3, 2020
Scripture Reading: Psalm 149
Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their couches.
Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
to bind their kings with fetters
and their nobles with chains of iron,
to execute on them the judgement decreed.
This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the Lord!
I learned the chorus Sing to the Lord a New Song, many years ago, when I attended a Children’s Defense Fund retreat for advocates of faith. I loved that song and still do. What I am discovering is that we are challenged to sing a new song to the Lord continuously. As we grew in faith maturity and as the world changes all around us, we must sing new songs. Even ten years ago, I would never have envisioned sitting in my recliner with a laptop attending not just routine meetings but things like the Poor Peoples March on June 20 with 1.5 million of my best friends.
Any change evolves in chaos. We are now living in a time of multiple transformations:
- Shedding white privilege and racism
- Striving to develop a world where everyone has enough
- Seeking peace and justice non-violently both locally and worldwide
- Addressing the impacts of climate change
We often feel as if everything is spinning out of control. It is not. God is in control whenever we are working toward God’s vision of a world ruled by love. When we are in sync with God, we are continually spiraling up to a new plateau of attaining that vision. While we may take a Sabbath for a while, eventually, we will see that we are called to another new song until we reach that perfection Paul envisioned.
Prayer: Lord, grant us both the impatience that identifies the need for change and the patience to make change a reality. 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.