Living in the Spirit
October 26, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:137-144 

You are righteous, O Lord,
   and your judgements are right.
You have appointed your decrees in righteousness
   and in all faithfulness.
My zeal consumes me
   because my foes forget your words. –Psalm 119:137-139

The Psalms are brutally honest, putting words to thoughts we probably would deny ever thinking, but there they are in print. A brazen assumption exists in this scripture. The author thinks he remembers God’s words better than the people who are against him remember them. He may well have been right. Ever felt that way? There is much division in our faith world today. Feeling anger at differing interpretations of our common faith is not unusual. Have we ever been like Saul so sure of our theology, which we consider as the theology, we want to persecute others who followed a different understanding only finding out later that we were wrong? I remember some years ago a dear Christian man in my church spoke strongly against admitting women to the diaconate. The measure passed. I was a member of the second class of females elected deacons. Following the first worship in which I served communion, he came to me, took my hand in his, patted the top of that hand with his other hand, and with tears in his eyes said, “I was wrong voting against women being deacons.”

The Psalms record conversations between their writers and God. I believe that is the correct place to be brutally honest. Having opened our hearts to God including any shame-filled thoughts, egotistical bluster, or pain at seeing another who seems to be missing the mark, we are freed by God to make a wiser decision about how to deal with the issue at hand. On those occasions when we are the ones who miss the mark, God will guide us back to his way, when we continue to keep the lines of communication opened to God.

Prayer: God of poets, you have blessed us with examples of one-on-one relationships with you in your gifts of the Psalms. Let the be a guide to our spiritual development. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.