Living in the Spirit

August 18, 2021

Scripture Reading:

Psalm 34:15-22
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
   and his ears are open to their cry.
The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
   to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears,
   and rescues them from all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the broken-hearted,
   and saves the crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
   but the Lord rescues them from them all.
He keeps all their bones;
   not one of them will be broken.
Evil brings death to the wicked,
   and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
   none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

The Hebrew word tsaddiq translated her as righteous, also means just as in justice. My understanding of these two words, righteousness and justice, are nuanced, slightly different, in my perception of them. Righteousness seems to apply to me personally. Do I make the right choices? Is my behavior and relationship with God in sync with God’s will? The prophet Amos described this as aligning my life with God like a brick mason following a plumbline’s guidance. Similarly, justice describes being in the right relationship with other people as a part of our righteous connection with God.

The Psalmist quoted above tells us that God sees and hears our cries for God with us. In response, God turns his face against evildoers. I sense that messages as God standing guard against evil. God perceives the problem and then steps between us and the threats facing us.

To quote Thomas Paine, we are living in times that try men’s souls. A virus out of control, people, responding in fear, earthquakes and other weather-related events destroying life and property, and our military is now leaving Afghanistan. We pay the price for past decisions and pray for the wisdom to correct our courses personally and communally. The final line of this scripture is our hope in salvation:
The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
   none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Prayer: Lord, help us to be redeemed in your righteousness and be champions of your justice. 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.