Today’s Scripture Reading (February
13, 2013): Psalm 19
Back when I
was a kid I drove an old Ford Fairlaine. It was a great car. And I had a secret
weapon – something that every guy wants in the car that he drives. If someone
was following me that I did not like, all I had to do was step on the gas and
this blue smoke would pour out of the exhaust pipe and I soon would not be able
to see them anymore – and they would not see me. It gave a new meaning to
phrase “eat my dust.” This was the car that if I had the opportunity to drive
it for more than an hour, I would have to pullover at a service station and
refill the oil in the engine. I used to joke to people that when I pulled into
a service station I had them fill the oil and check the gas. A while later I
finally got a different car. But I have to admit that for the first little
while I had this irresistible urge to pull over and check the oil even with my
new vehicle. My Ford had trained me well that to drive a car meant frequently
checking the oil.
I have been
challenged recently on the idea that my words are the basis for my faith, but
my actions reveal the level of my trust. The idea is that my faith can,
initially, be largely an intellectual exercise; it is the discovery of what it
is that I believe in. But a real faith will eventually journey toward trust. We
may start out saying that we have faith in something, but the natural movement
is actually always away from faith and into trust. This happens when our
actions naturally starts to follow our beliefs and our faith. The reality in
our life is that we need both faith and trust – faith in the things that we are
discovering about God, but we recognize that a true faith will move into trust.
David sums
up this Psalm with these words - May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be
pleasing in your sight – and what he is saying is - God I am
placing my faith (the words of my mouth) and my trust (the meditation or action
of my heart) in you. And then he describes why in the next few words – because
you are my Redeemer. The word is ga’al and it describes the action of God to
actively buy us back from the things to which we have given ourselves. David is
saying, I recognize your activity in my life – you have redeemed me from all of
the things that held my faith and trust during this life. And so I will place
my faith (words) and my trust (actions) to you. Ultimately, this is the image
that, as Christians, we have of Jesus. He is our Redeemer – the one who has
bought us back - and so he is the one in whom we have faith – and in whom that
faith is slowly changing into trust.
Slowly, I placed my faith in my new car and
finally my trust – which for me meant that I ignored my oil maybe a little too
much. But that might be a different story.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm
20 & 21
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