What Song Will You Sing?
Good Morning Friends,
Today we look at a cluster of three Psalms and a passage from James as we approach the Thanksgiving Holiday. The first starts out with a depiction of our emotions…those things that make us make us and keep us from crying and singing and dreaming. It is about the loss of the past, the unresolved happiness of the present and the hope of the future. This Psalm has a pretty dark side that challenges us to consider whether we have a true or false patriotism. It is the song of exile. It is the only song in the Bible that is a curse on others. Then we move from this bitter nationalism to a Psalm of Thanksgiving for deliverance from such trouble. Psalm 138 was used in the rebuilding of the Temple. It is a song of trust and truth that lifts up the preservation of life. It is about blessings not curses. Then finally a bit of a third Psalm that acknowledges that we are both fearfully and wonderfully made. Their order flow nicely in a message of the complexity of life and the challenge of welcoming God into our lives. Here we might just realize that some characteristics make people give you attention and then there are other characteristics that prompt God to be interested in what is happening in the details of our lives. What Song Will You Sing?
Scripture: By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall, how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!” O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!
Psalm 137 (NRSV)
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything. On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth. They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
Psalm 138 (NRSV)
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14 (NRSV)
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
James 2:1-8 (NRSV)
Message: There is an honesty in today’s Psalms that is both refreshing and depressing. Reading them makes us question our honesty for we do so want to pretend that everything is ok when it is not. Sometimes the question of blame is erased by the experience of pain. But at other times we are more like Christian snobs. It is easy to be one if we do not embrace the liberating law of love. It is so hard for most to stretch their circle of friends. Here you might just discover that when we glory in the status of people we forget how far we all fall short of the glory of God. Here we might just learn that God has a preference test when it comes to the distribution of faith. The problem is not new. James wrote about it. The reality then as now, is that if we want to live in a close relationship with God, we must come to repent of our attitudes. There is more to value than money. There is more to value than nationalism. Friends we have all been fearfully and wonderfully made. Not marveling in the diversity of this world is an affront to God.
Pray we overcome our anger. Pray for people who have relocated to new homes as they seek new friends. Pray we realize that as Christians we must fight against partiality and favoritism for we are subject to the law of love. Pray we realize that God is interested in the heart. Pray we associate with all those that God has received into the family. Pray we expand our circle and learn that there is more to faith than finances. Pray we realize that hope is fruitless without Christ. Pray therefor that we never hang up our harps. Pray we never stop singing. Pray we are never discouraged to the point of pretending everything is okay. Pray we face our fear and excitement and loneliness and despair as well as satisfaction. Pray our emotions move us to act in ways that glorify God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 