Living in the Spirit

July 13, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 15

O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
   Who may dwell on your holy hill?

Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
   and speak the truth from their heart;
who do not slander with their tongue,
   and do no evil to their friends,
   nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;
in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
   but who honor those who fear the Lord;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
who do not lend money at interest,
   and do not take a bribe against the innocent.

Those who do these things shall never be moved.

They shall be like a tree planted by water,
   sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
   and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
   and it does not cease to bear fruit. –Jeremiah –17:8

They are like trees
   planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
   and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper. –Psalm 1:3

I cannot read these scriptures without remembering the chorus I learned as a child.

I shall not be, I shall not be moved
I shall not be, I shall not be moved
Just like the tree that’s planted by the waters
I shall not be moved*

The message of steadfastness is linked in the Psalm to walking blamelessly. We must spend much time in study and meditation and communion with God to find what is right. Sometimes that takes turning away from ideas drawn from the world we hold dear that are not aligned with God’s righteousness. We must spread our roots in God’s ways.

Prayer: Lord, strengthen our discernment to separate your ways from the ways of the world. Amen.

*Chorus to I Shall Not Be Moved by Vernie O. Fossett see at https://zionlyrics.com/lyrics/bird-youmans-i-shall-not-be-moved-like-a-tree-planted-by-the-waters-lyrics

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.