Devotion for Tuesday, April 7

Lessons from the Daily Lectionary – Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Psalms 34, 146; Jeremiah 15:10-25; Philippians 3:15-21; John 12:20-26

Meditation: Psalm 34 is a magnificent psalm. Starting with streams of blessing to God flowing from the Psalmist’s lips, the lyricist continues with a song that tells of how God answers prayer and rewards faithful covenant living. It’s the latter of these that are my focus for today.

This faithful covenant living, as I call it, is embodied in the heart of the psalm (v. 11-14).

There the psalmist becomes a teacher of proverbs:

Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good?

Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

More than just good advice, these words have a context in the Jewish Torah, or teachings of Moses. In other words, while the words might well fit as something one might find in a “Dear Abby” column in the newspaper, it would be better to picture them as coming from the foot of Mount Sinai, where Moses came back from his trip up the mountain with two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments.

I get that picture when I read: “I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Don’t take that the wrong way. It’s not about God being wrathful or scary. It’s about God’s presence being awesome or mysterious in ways that leave one with a sense of wonder and an energy for doing good. Sinai is about loving God and loving one’s neighbor. Jesus summarized the commandments in this way, inviting people into a relationship with God and to a commitment to others in community.

As another psalmist said: “the times they are a changin’.” The change in our time is one which some have called a change from modernism to post-modernism. This is why Psalm 34 is so important, I believe. The modern age was one in which people trusted that a universal law or code of conduct could be discovered and followed. Morality was just another scientific discovery to be found, and finding it the only remaining question that remained was how to get everyone on board.

The covenant faithfulness about which Moses spoke, has a different feel than modernism. God’s covenant and promise with the people of Israel asked them to be different than the rest. They were to be a peculiar people. They were blessed to be the chosen ones. Not that they were to misuse that blessing for selfish ends. Their covenant relationship with God was to exemplify what good life others could have with God, as well. Bottom line, they were to keep their covenant not because it was good advice, but because the newness and blessing of life with God at the center defined who they to be.

Rejoicing in our call to covenant faithfulness, go out and love your neighbor, today.

Prayer: Our time of daily prayer leads us to find our feet planted on the firm foundation of your calling, O God. So we bless you for your gracious acts of creation and of covenant. We lift up our troubles to you asking your forgiveness and renewal. We pray for those who are in need today. Especially we pray for our youth on their mission trip. We ask that you might lead us to make our lives an offering of self to you and to the other who is also the recipient of your never failing love. Amen.