Today’s Scripture Reading (March 10,
2013): Psalm 101
I find that
I continually have to admit my struggle with the mystical. More than anything,
I want to be logical and prepared for the things that this life is going to
confront me with – and yet I am also constantly reminded that God often chooses
not to work that way. There is something about our spiritual lives that comes
from outside of us – something that we have no control over. Maybe that is the
reason why the pastors who are responsible for growing huge ministries often
seem to have no idea why or how the ministry grew. It just seemed to happen.
The truth of our spiritual lives is that there is no way that we can force God
to move. God moves when – and where – he decides to move. And sometimes all we
can do is wait for God to move in our lives.
David writes
that he “will be careful to lead a blameless life.” But then he follows up that
statement with a question – “when will you come?” There are those that would
like to use this verse to argue for an early date to the writing of the Psalm.
The argument is that the Psalm was written during the time that David was
waiting for the Ark of the Covenant to be moved into Jerusalem – an event that
happened early in David’s time as king. But I think a better explanation might
be that the two statements should be connected – because that is the reality
that we know. We want to be careful to lead a blameless life. We never want to
do the stupid things that we do. And yet – we do them. We commit the crime. And
all of this was something that David was very acquainted with.
David knew
that the act of leading a life that was blameless was impossible in his own
strength. He had tried – and failed. The only hope David had for being
blameless was for God to show up. And so David was waiting for God to come -
his prayer was that God would come and make him blameless – make him holy (set
apart for a purpose.)
It is the
spiritual mystery that we all live in the midst of. We want to be good, but the
reality is that we experientially understand Jesus comment that no one is good
except the Father. And if we want to be blameless, that level of good is only
possible if we invite God to show up in our lives.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm
103
Note: The VantagePoint (Edmonton) sermon "You With Me" from the series "Blood, Sweat and Tears" is available on the VantagePoint website. You can find it here.
Note: The VantagePoint (Edmonton) sermon "You With Me" from the series "Blood, Sweat and Tears" is available on the VantagePoint website. You can find it here.
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