So this Psalm seems to be driving home a point that’s already been driven home plenty of times, at least in the sermons and Sunday School lessons I’ve been in. Simply put: he who dies with the most toys, still dies. Trying to get more out of it, it looks like the Psalm is also saying that I shouldn’t be jealous of people who are wealthy. Check.
Well, on second thought . . . so, I’ve never been jealous of what we think of as “wealthy” people. I’m fortunate in that the love of money has never really been a huge driving force for me. I recognize it’s usefulness, but I’ve never organized my life around trying to accumulate it.
That being said, I know that from time to time, I am definitely envious of my friends who make more money than me. Not in a “man, I wish I had that much money” sort of way, but rather I feel disappointed when I can’t afford to take a trip to see my friend in the military, when I can’t go on similar diving trips that a couple of my friends take from time to time. I feel like I don’t measure up as a person sometimes because I don’t have the same cash-flow to enjoy doing the same things they do. Little things like going to the movies every weekend, keeping up on the newest dvds and cds. But it goes deeper than that.
It’s no stretch to say that an individual’s paycheck can be interpreted as a measure of one’s contributions to society. While this may not hold true once you start looking at extremely high salaries, it’s easy to see that at my level of income. I make more than fast food cashier or a grocery store sacker, and teachers, police officers, computer programers, and doctors all make more than I do. So when I look at their level of income, it’s easy to think that my worth to society is lacking.
I’m not saying that my friends are boastful of their income. I’m not saying that they’re good or bad people, Christian or non-Christian. All I’m saying is that I think I need to take away from this chapter, at least this time through, is that God does not measure my worth to society by my paycheck. He knows what’s in store for me, He knows what I’m capable of doing for His children, and if I live my life by His will, my contribution to society will be great indeed.
Psalm 50
I like the way this one opens.
1 The Mighty One, God, the LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
and around him a tempest rages.
Beautiful imagery. I’m not really sure what to take from this one, besides the obvious stuff about God not really needing our burnt offerings, because they’re all his to begin with, and the bit about the wicked is pretty “standard” fare.
I feel like the Psalm hinges around to key verses:
14 Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,
and:
23 He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and he prepares the way
so that I may show him the salvation of God.
But the wording confuses me. I’m not entirely sure what it’s meant by a “thank offering” or how one would sacrifice a “thank offering.”
Verse 15 seems pretty clear, call on the Lord when I’m in trouble, and He’ll help me, which will glorify His power. I’m just not sure what I’m supposed to do with 14 and 23.
Romans 1
Wow, this is a hard one to start off with. Verses 18 - 32 are a pretty clear condemnation of certain sinful acts. I’m well aware that it’s not my place to judge, to assign anybody to God’s wrath. That’s not my job. And I’m familiar with the phrase, and believe that the Bible does support that one should “love the sinner, hate the sin.”
But it’s verse 32 that gets to me.
32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Particularly the phrase “but also approve of those who practice them.” At first, I thought this was telling me that by not speaking out against all sin in the world, that I’m in fact condoning it, and thus sinning myself.
But I think, in context, what it’s speaking about are the people who claim to know God’s will, know what’s wrong, and sin anyways with excuses as to why their behavior isn’t really sinful. I tend to interpret the Bible these days as a message to me, how I should be living, not how I should be critiquing others. And I think this is telling me that, since I am open in my declarations of faith, I need to be careful not to try and justify anything I know in my heart to be sinful.
I can think of at time or two recently that I may have justified something sinful when I could have instead leaned on the Holy Spirit to keep me strong.
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