Departing from the Normal Routine

Scripture Passage that Caught my attention today: Psalm 27. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail meto devour my flesh— my adversaries and foes— they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock. Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! “Come, ” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation! If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence. I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Observation: It’s unclear whether David truly embraced this when he wrote it or whether writing it was a way of trying to convince himself to embrace what he believed to be true. But either way, the truth came out.

Application: Those of you who follow the Bible reading plan that I follow are probably wondering why I’m journaling on Psalm 27 since that wasn’t one of the readings for today. You might then conclude that I picked this passage because I must be going through some sort of fearful situation right now.

Not really, though I have indeed been there and done that and will no doubt at some point do that again.

Recently my daughter started a little tradition with me where she picks and e-mails me a verse of the week for me and I in turn pick and e-mail a verse of the week for her. As quite the over-achiever, yesterday she sent me not just one verse but, rather, all 14 verses of Psalm 27! Due to the full schedule of the day, I didn’t really get a chance to look the passage over until this morning after reading the normal assigned readings for today. And when I saw it, I just decided that today I would reflect on her passage instead of one of the others.

There are two schools of thought on the relationship between belief and action. One school suggests that we believe our way into action and the other school suggests that we act our way into a new way of believing. Either way, belief and action discover a partner in each other.

From the looks of the passage and knowing some of what David was going through, it’s hard to know whether he was just trying to convince himself of what he believed to be true (sort of like repeating positive, true thoughts to help us overcome our fears) or whether he was actually giving voice to his convictions. Either way, truth can be found by those of us who take such passages to heart.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gift of our rapidly-growing children and for how, each in their own way, they help remind us of the blessed truth that is ultimately found only in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: 2 Samuel 18, Psalm 56, Matthew 27 and, of course, Psalm 27)