Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. – Psalm 135:3

Today's Scripture Reading (December 9, 2025): Psalm 135

I love the story of Benedict Arnold. I know, it is a strange thing to say. But here is the story of a great American General. Sometimes I think that we forget that. Before he became our favorite traitor, Benedict Arnold was a successful General. He was entrusted with a campaign against Quebec City during the Revolutionary War. Although he failed and didn't achieve the goal, we sometimes forget that his failure was primarily due to faulty intelligence and inclement weather. The march on Quebec City shared many characteristics with Napoleon's attempt to defeat Moscow. However, Arnold stayed in the area, hoping for a second chance to conquer the city before spring brought reinforcements to the city on the thawing St. Lawrence River. A smallpox epidemic further reduced his chances of defeating the city. Benedict stayed until circumstances beyond his control finally forced him to remove his soldiers from the area.

But then something happened. Experts still dispute why Arnold changed sides. American author W. D. Wetherell attempts to paint the circumstances surrounding his decision to change from American to British. Wetherell argues that Arnold is … 

… among the hardest human beings to understand in American history. Did he become a traitor because of all the injustice he suffered, real and imagined, at the hands of the Continental Congress and his jealous fellow generals? Because of the constant agony of two battlefield wounds in an already gout-ridden leg? From psychological wounds received in his Connecticut childhood when his alcoholic father squandered the family's fortunes? Or was it a kind of extreme midlife crisis, swerving from radical political beliefs to reactionary ones, a change accelerated by his marriage to the very young, very pretty, very Tory Peggy Shippen (W. D. Wetherell).

In the end, Wetherell concludes that the best explanation for Arnold's decision is that he married the wrong person. But historians disagree about the character of Benedict Arnold. In the United States, ask anyone for the name of a historical traitor, and I am sure most will name either Judas Iscariot, from the story of Jesus's crucifixion, or Benedict Arnold; I am not sure which man will come out on top. Ask the same question in Britain, and I believe the answer would be Judas, Brutus (Marcus Junius Brutus), the betrayer of Julius Caesar. but more likely, the name of the most infamous traitor in Britain would be Guy Fawkes, associated with the "Gunpowder Plot" of 1605. Why the different answer? Because Benedict Arnold is a traitor in America, and I admit, probably in all of North America, but he is a hero in the United Kingdom.

The Psalmist says that God is good; period. It doesn't matter who you are; God is good. He cannot be anything else. I am not saying that we always get God right. But if something is evil, it is always us and never God. Sometimes, we misunderstand what God is instructing us to do. God is always good, always love, and always moral. Good is God's nature, and He cannot be anything else. We are closest to the character of God if we can remember that. And because these are the essential attributes of God, it is always a pleasant experience to praise Him as the Psalmist instructs.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalm 136