Living in the Spirit

November 12, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 90:1-12

Lord, you have been our dwelling-place
   in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
   or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
   from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

For we are consumed by your anger;
   by your wrath we are overwhelmed.
You have set our iniquities before you,
   our secret sins in the light of your countenance.

Who considers the power of your anger?
   Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due to you.
So teach us to count our days
   that we may gain a wise heart. –Psalm 90:1-2, 7-8, 11-12.

I was surprised to learn that the root Hebrew word for anger is related to our noses or nostrils. Wrath is what I thought it would be—rage.* I can feel Hebrew scholars shudder as I try to make sense of this. Growing up on a farm and having attended numerous rodeos, I am acquainted with the flaring nostrils of an angry bull. The bull intakes more fuel strengthening them for the fight ahead. While that is not my normal vision of God, I can imagine God preparing to take each of us and all of us together on as God sets our iniquities before us. God’s proclaimed followers may have pushed God to God’s limits in recent days as we fight over who has the corner on God. We are like children taunting each other on a playground, “my god is better than your god.” While God is uttering those age-old words of parents, “How many times do I have to tell you, love one another.”

The rest of the Psalm stresses that life is short and now is the time to become whole in God’s love, to become one in Christ service, and to create a just world together.

I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

               Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith on Canaan’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
  Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground. **

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our childish ways. Lead us to higher ground. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/interlinear/psalms/90-7.htm
**First verse, second verse, and chorus of Higher Ground by Johnson Oatman Jr. see at https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/396

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.