Tuesday, September 14, 2010

From "Suffering and Psalm 119" -David Powlison

So what does it mean, then, to say, "I keep Your word" (119:17)?
The obvious example is obedience to specific commandments. You keep "Do not commit adultery" by not committing adultery.
How do you keep other, different sorts of words, e.g. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"? You keep such words by believing, by remembering, by changing how you look at everything.
Our psalm keeps Genesis 1 by affirming to God, "You established the earth, and it stands. All things are Your servants." That's faith in action and out loud.
You keep His words when you are looking at a goldfinch or a thunderstorm, and you see creatures, dependents, servants -not merely an avian organism, not merely a weather event that means a cold front is coming through -and you praise their maker.
You keep Genesis 1 by remembering that you, too, are a creature and dependent, whose purposes are accountable to your maker. You are not merely your resume, or your feelings, or your web of relationships, or your bank account, or your self-talk, or your plans, or your life-shaping experiences. Our psalm says, "Your hands made me and fashioned me. I am Yours."

2 comments:

Rachael B. said...

Hi Heidi!
I know we don't really know each other, but I met you briefly at this year's Tamarack.
Thanks for the encouraging post...
All the best in your studies!

Mom said...

Beautiful!