Whole Being

Posted on by Betsy

I have been blessed to visit the Wailing Wall at the Temple in Jerusalem twice in my life. It is a holy and mysterious place. This is the last remaining structure of the Second Temple built by Herod in 20 BCE and is sacred to Jews and Christians alike. On both visits I noticed Orthodox Jews praying fervently at the wall, swaying and rocking back and forth. This tradition is known as “shuckling” and is thought to promote focus and concentration in the worshipper. Shuckling is a Yiddish word that means “to shake,” and is based on Proverbs 20:27 where the spirit of man is described as a flickering candle or lamp of the Lord. In any case, this practice involves the whole body in worship. What would it look like if we involved our whole beings in worship?

Today’s beautiful psalm makes the same suggestion. “Let my whole being bless the Lord!” says David. He repeats this idea three times in the first two verses to emphasize his point. Half-hearted, distracted worship is not enough. For David, it is all or nothing.

Psalm 103 (Common English Bible)

Let my whole being bless the Lord!
    Let everything inside me bless his holy name!
2 Let my whole being bless the Lord
    and never forget all his good deeds:

Scholars assume that this psalm was probably written in David’s later years. There is a maturity of thought in this writing, suggesting a man who had been through some trials and is able to reflect on God’s goodness throughout. This man knew what it was like to receive God’s pardon. By including his soul in blessing God, David suggests that we should thank God appropriately for giving us such a comprehensive “benefits package,” the likes of which cannot be given by mere mortals.

God’s benefits package includes forgiveness, healing, protection from destruction, lovingkindness, tender mercies, and a youth-like energy and strength. Indeed, every good thing comes from God, and it is incumbent on us to return those blessings in the form of wholly engaged worship.


3     how God forgives all your sins,
    heals all your sickness,
4     saves your life from the pit,
    crowns you with faithful love and compassion,
5     and satisfies you with plenty of good things
        so that your youth is made fresh like an eagle’s.

But do we do that? Do we engage our minds and souls every Sunday in church? Or do we present our distracted selves, coming automatically every week without engaging our hearts? More importantly, are you holding something back? We are invited to prepare for and engage thoughtfully in worship each week. Are you a candle burning or a spent wick?

David’s enthusiasm for God is contagious if we just let it in. Next time you are getting ready for worship, read these words again. And then bless the Lord with everything you’ve got.

The Temple by Kathy Schumacher

The BE Attitudes

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever woken up with a bad attitude? Maybe your slept poorly, or your first coherent thought was about yesterday’s argument, or maybe your early morning news routine was a bad idea with its foreboding and negativity. For me, a bad attitude then begets a worse day. Everything gets filtered through my mood and things just go south. 

Today’s passage is a reminder that Jesus has a model for what our attitudes should be. In the Sermon on the Mount, he lists eight aspirational characteristics of Kingdom citizens; this is how Jesus wants his people to be. If you adopt his “be attitudes,” they will beget a reward unlike anything we can obtain on earth.

Our Common English Bible translation uses the phrase “Happy are those” in place of the more common “Blessed are you.” To be blessed is to be happy in the present tense, teaching us that these things are both current possibilities and promises of what earthly life in God’s kingdom looks like.

Matthew 5 (Common English Bible)

3 “Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

4 “Happy are people who grieve, because they will be made glad.

5 “Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth.

6 “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full.

7 “Happy are people who show mercy, because they will receive mercy.

8 “Happy are people who have pure hearts, because they will see God.

9 “Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children.

10 “Happy are people whose lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

11 “Happy are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me. 12 Be full of joy and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. In the same way, people harassed the prophets who came before you.

Jesus’ message introduces a new kind of kingdom that was radically different than the one they were living in. It was a reversal of everything, where the marginalized and poor are elevated over the wealthy and powerful. He focused on inner transformation and inward righteousness in a society that was still trying to be pure under the Law. He emphasized that happy blessedness comes from a deep and intimate relationship with God, not just the outward appearance of piety. 

Jesus’ blueprint for this new kingdom was counter-cultural in the way that it turned expectations upside down. The poor in spirit receive the kingdom of heaven. The mourners will be made glad. The meek inherit the earth! Hungry people will be filled. Those who have shown mercy will be given mercy. Peacemakers and the pure in heart will enjoy an intimate relationship with God as children of God. And persecution and being reviled for Jesus’ sake turns out to be a good thing that we can rejoice over, as it will usher in a reward from heaven. All they had to do was be everything he described.

It must have sounded crazy to the people gathered on the hillside listening to him preach. All of the existing structures of power, wealth, and authority were undone in that one message. 

This message is timeless for every believer. Do you need to be more righteous? More pure in heart? More hungry and thirsty for God’s word? Be smart and ask God for an attitude adjustment.

Bee Blessed Today by Becca Ziegler

Wise Guys

Posted on by Betsy

Early in my ministry I did prison ministry for about five years. It was eye-opening, important, and terrifying at the same time. I visited a state prison with a death row one time and had to pass through metal detectors, metal doors, and intense security. Guards ushered me into a large open waiting area that spoked off into many different wings. Wide-eyed, I waited for hours to be called. Suddenly I spotted a SWAT team member go through an entryway that hadn’t opened before. Behind the door I could see a large chair with foot rests. Did I just see the electric chair? Why would it be in such a visible place? I couldn’t breathe. In a few minutes he returned in his newly polished boots. The “electric chair” was a shoe-shine perch. Foolish me!

The horror I felt at the very idea of the electric chair is exactly the idea that the Greeks and Jews had of the cross. Public executions by hanging a man on the cross were horrific. The cross became a symbol of deep shame, humiliation, and indecency. 

Paul understood that when he wrote these words to his church in Corinth. Corinth was one of the largest cities of the ancient world and was known for its wealth, prosperity, and growing business sector. It was also known for its debauchery, drunkenness, and loose sexual morals. Paul’s letter in 1 Corinthians is a response to reports he had received regarding some of the behavior in the church. 

In a series of contrasts, Paul draws out an argument to settle their disputes. God chose the foolish over the wise. God chose the weak over the strong. God chose the low class nothings over the affluent somethings. God chose life over death. So preaching Christ crucified is an act of foolishness that has to overcome people’s aversion to the cross. 

1 Corinthians 1 (Common English Bible)

18 The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved. 19 It is written in scripture: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the intelligence of the intelligent. 20 Where are the wise? Where are the legal experts? Where are today’s debaters? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of the world foolish? 21 In God’s wisdom, he determined that the world wouldn’t come to know him through its wisdom. Instead, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching. 22 Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, which is a scandal to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.24 But to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25 This is because the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

26 Look at your situation when you were called, brothers and sisters! By ordinary human standards not many were wise, not many were powerful, not many were from the upper class. 27 But God chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise. God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong.28 And God chose what the world considers low-class and low-life—what is considered to be nothing—to reduce what is considered to be something to nothing. 29 So no human being can brag in God’s presence. 30 It is because of God that you are in Christ Jesus. He became wisdom from God for us. This means that he made us righteous and holy, and he delivered us. 31 This is consistent with what was written: The one who brags should brag in the Lord!

Paul once thought the cross was foolish. Nobody hated the cross more than Saul, until that glorious moment when God struck him down and struck him blind on the road to Damascus in Acts 9. Three days later he could see the glory of the cross and began preaching “foolishness” from that day. No wise scribe or debater could do what Jesus did on the cross. Paul preached that salvation is not the achievement of human cleverness or wisdom but is the eternal embrace of God’s great love and incomprehensible action at Calvary.

Are you foolish or wise? Are you willing to preach Christ crucified to a generation that wants signs and wisdom? Be a wise guy; people are dying to hear the good news.

Its a Sign

Persons of Peace

Posted on by Betsy

Many years ago I attended a clergy retreat where a speaker introduced us to the concept of a person of peace. Based in Luke 10, a person of peace is someone who welcomes and listens to others and is able to build bridges in a community. They are open and receptive to new ideas and can serve as a doorway to God. We were then asked to identify people who had personally served that function in our own lives, and I immediately thought of a clergy sister who invited me to join her small group the day after I moved into the area, opening the door to new friendships and support. This woman made room for every crazy idea or grievance I had about ministry. She was a deep listener, and I always felt peace in her presence.

The final section of Psalm 37 refers to “persons of peace.” According to David, the future belongs to them. Once again in this psalm, David referred to the righteous and blameless people who will enter in to a place of peace while the future of the wicked will be cut off. For the sixth and final time in this psalm, David states that the future of the wicked is not to be desired. So while we spend time envying the wealth and celebrity of the wicked in the world, we should realize that their fleeting abundance will be cut off like a tree felled by the ax of the Good Woodcutter.

The righteous man and woman are noted for their wise and just words. We realize that wisdom is not just an innate gift of God but also a result of the effort and work we put into knowing God and learning God’s Word. We can’t know wisdom until we learn it. We can’t understand justice until we study it. We can’t learn God’s instruction unless we intentionally read the Bible and engage in corporate study with others. So good for you! You’re actively becoming a person of peace by your reading today. Now be sure to open this to someone else.   

Psalm 37:30-40


The mouths of the righteous recite wisdom;
    their tongues discuss justice.
31 The Instruction of their God is in their hearts;
    they don’t miss a step.
32 The wicked, on the other hand, target the righteous,
    seeking to kill them.
33 But the Lord won’t leave the righteous
    to the power of the wicked,
    and won’t let the righteous
    be found guilty when they are judged.

34 Hope in the Lord and keep his way!
    He will lift you up so you can possess the land.
        When the wicked are eliminated,
        you will see it for yourself!
35 I myself have seen wicked powerful people,
    exalting themselves like a stately cedar.
36 But when I came back, they were gone!
    I looked all over for them,
    but they couldn’t be found!

37 Observe those who have integrity
    and watch those whose heart is right
    because the future belongs to persons of peace.
38 But wrongdoers will be destroyed all together;
    the future of the wicked will be cut short.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;
    he is their refuge in times of trouble.
40 The Lord will help them and rescue them—
    rescue them from the wicked—and he will save them
    because they have taken refuge in him.

David’s words make sense in a Christian context as well. People who are open avenues to the Gospel and invite others in will be instrumental in bringing peace and harmony to the world.  David invites us to hope in the Lord and keep God’s ways. When we do, peace is ours not just in the future but in the here and now. Who is your person of peace? Are you a person of peace in your community? 

Persons of Peace by Kathy Schumacher

Easter Monday Blues

Posted on by Betsy

The day has finally arrived and gone. All the plastic eggs and colorful chocolate foil wrappers have been picked up and put away. For the church, this means that the long winter night know as Lent is finally over and we can get back to business as usual. But a well spent Lent leaves a mark on our soul. That is the purpose and intention of Lent. So now that our fasting and self-examination period is over, what’s next? What did we learn? How will we apply Lent’s healing salve on our hearts for the rest of our year? What do we need to do to keep this fire of discipline burning so that our faith won’t dissipate like a vapor?

I think we should start by asking the same question that Hosea did. What does God desire for his people?

Hosea 6:4-6

 Ephraim, what will I do with you?
            Judah, what will I do with you?
    Your love is like a morning cloud,
            like the dew that vanishes quickly.
5     Therefore, I have attacked them by the prophets,
            I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
                and my judgment goes forth like a light.


6     I desire faithful love and not sacrifice,
            the knowledge of God instead of entirely burned offerings.

Hosea was a prophet who served God during the period of the divided kingdom. Civil war had separated the people into the Northern Kingdom of Judah and the Southern Kingdom of Isreal. Political and economic prosperity had led the people to turn away from God and turn toward idolatry, corruption, and spiritual and moral decay. God called Hosea to speak to the people and kings of the Northern Kingdom. The name Hosea means “salvation” and comes from the same root as Joshua and Jesus. Thus he was tasked by speaking the truth of God in an attempt to save the people from themselves.

Hosea is very clear and direct regarding God’s desires, boiling it down to two things: Faithful love and knowledge of God. Truly, if we were to succeed in just these two things we would grow closer to God every day.

The people of that time we so far from God, their love evaporated as quickly as the morning dew and the sunrise clouds. Barely here, they are gone in an instant like the mercy and obedience of the wayward people. While they were consistently bringing animals to sacrifice at the altar, none of them could bring themselves as a living sacrifice to the Lord. They missed what God really wanted from them: A deep, close relationship. 

Jesus quoted Hosea twice in Matthew 9:13 and 12:7. “Go and learn what this means: I want mercy and not sacrifice. I didn’t come to call righteous people, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). It seems that we never learn.

“What will I do with you?” God asks us today. I suggest that as we enter into Eastertide, we keep God’s desires in mind. Let us resolve to show acts of faithful love and mercy every day. Let us resolve to grow in our knowledge of God through faithful worship and Bible study attendance. How will you live up to God’s desires? Make a plan.

Morning Cloud by Michelle Robertson

Sorrowful Friday

Posted on by Betsy

We have finally arrived. Today is Good Friday, the last weekday of our journey through Lent. As a child, I used to wonder why we called it “Good.” It seemed to me the day Jesus died on the cross was anything but good. Easter Sunday? Good. Birthdays? Good. Last day of school? Very good. But the crucifixion? Not so good.

Some believe that it is a variation of “God’s Friday.” In Germany, it is called Karfreitag, or “Sorrowful Friday.” Of course what remains good about today is that God’s plan to save humanity could only come through Jesus’ willing sacrifice, which brought eternal life to everyone. Even though it was horrific by any measure, God indeed used Jesus’ death for the “good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28).

John 19 (The Message)

28 Jesus, seeing that everything had been completed so that the Scripture record might also be complete, then said, “I’m thirsty.”

29-30 A jug of sour wine was standing by. Someone put a sponge soaked with the wine on a javelin and lifted it to his mouth. After he took the wine, Jesus said, “It’s done . . . complete.” Bowing his head, he offered up his spirit.

Note that the scripture reads that he offered up his spirit. It wasn’t taken or forced from him, but he offered it. Can you imagine? He did that for you.

38 After all this, Joseph of Arimathea (he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, because he was intimidated by the Jews) petitioned Pilate to take the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission. So Joseph came and took the body.

Take a look at the detail in the descriptions of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (below). Joseph was a “secret” disciple, because he was intimidated by the Jews. Nicodemus, however, has made the leap from first coming to Jesus in the dark of night to now being able to come in the broad daylight. What are we meant to learn?

Be Nicodemus. Stand in the light and proclaim Christ as Lord. Don’t be intimidated by the secular world or the scorn of non-believers. Share your faith openly and boldly. You have a story to tell….because it doesn’t end with Good Friday.

39-42 Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus at night, came now in broad daylight carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. They took Jesus’ body and, following the Jewish burial custom, wrapped it in linen with the spices. There was a garden near the place he was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. So, because it was Sabbath preparation for the Jews and the tomb was convenient, they placed Jesus in it.

But for today, we leave Jesus in the tomb. You have to go through Good Friday to get to Easter Sunday.

On this day of sorrows, be mindful of everything it cost our Lord to purchase your salvation. He loves you that much.

It is finished.

Sorrowful Night by Becca Ziegler

“Here!”

Posted on by Betsy

I recently had a fun conversation with a friend from my old church about Christmas Eve services. We were a large church that became huge on Christmas Eve, and at one point we had to offer four services to accommodate all of the worshippers. Calculating the amount of people that I personally would serve at one of three communion stations, my friend estimated that I would need to say, “the body and blood of Christ given to you” several hundred times that night. At our pre-Christmas Eve dinner with church members at our favorite Mexican restaurant, somebody suggested that for the ones gathered there, I could save myself and simply say, “Here!” That got a good laugh. Unfortunately, my oldest daughter was seated at the end of the table and missed the conversation. So imagine her surprise (and displeasure!) when she came forward in Mom’s line and was met with, “Here!”

Think for a moment about the power of taking communion. I bet you have received it in many places and in many forms, from the casual retreat setting to the most formal of presentations in a church. I once took communion at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, which may count as the most elaborate setting for communion. But probably the most profound communions I have received have been the day I was confirmed in my childhood church in Gibbsboro, N.J., the first time I served it as a newly ordained pastor at my church in Peachtree City, GA, and serving my grandson his first ever communion in the downstairs hallway of the church. Communion is one of two sacraments in the United Methodist Church, and truly is the place were God meets us right where we are. I hope you feel the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit every time you receive the body and blood of Christ, given for you.

Our passage today marks the moment when the Last Supper became the Lord’s Supper from that night until eternity. Read it and feast:

Mark 14 (New International Version)

12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”

16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Amidst the disciples’ confusion, Judas’ betrayal, the ritual remembrance of the Passover, (when God delivered his children from death at the last plague in Egypt) and the gathering of friends for one last meal, Jesus abruptly breaks the bread and raises the cup, instituting the new covenant and the Eucharist.

When we gather in our churches tomorrow night for Maundy Thursday services, we will remember this exact moment. “Maundy” comes from the Latin word for “mandate, command” and refers to the new commandment that followed this evening’s actions, as recorded in John 13:34-35 “34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

How well do we follow that new commandment? Do we live up to our communion invitation to participate in Christ by loving as he loved?

I hope you are able to attend a Maundy Thursday service. When you receive that broken body and shed blood, remember the new covenant. Then go out and be the new covenant for the world.

This is my body, broken for you … by Becca Ziegler

Crossing the Finish Line

Posted on by Betsy

One of the blessings of observing Lent for six weeks is the focused anticipation of Easter. Some of us anticipate it with the breathless excitement of a child waiting for her Easter basket full of jelly beans. Some of us anticipate it like a child attending an Easter egg hunt….we know there are hidden treats there somewhere, but we are still looking through the high grass. Most of us just want the six weeks of self-deprivation to end.

Whatever your perspective is as we begin this last week of Lent, Easter is coming. The hour approaches. The finish line is in sight! The culmination of this season of disciplined waiting is about to end.

How are you doing?

Have you kept up with the commitments you made on Ash Wednesday to be more diligent in your fasting, prayer, scripture reading, meditation, repentance, worship, and serving?

Yeah, me neither.

You might be like me. I have been satisfactory in one area. I picked up two Cokesbury contracts this Lent, so I am writing and studying Scripture for hours on end. But I totally bombed in another. I committed to not snacking in the evening and that has been a big fail. My definition of “evening” keeps getting pushed back…all the way to midnight.

Today’s Scripture is a glimpse of how Jesus spent his last hours before the crucifixion. Notice his complete and total commitment to what was about to happen.

John 12 (English Standard Version)


20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

The hour has come. This must be finished. A grain of wheat must die in the ground to produce seed for the fruit. You must die to your life to produce seed for eternal life. Jesus invites us to follow him in this last hour.

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

Jesus didn’t waver at the end. Neither should we. Let us push on with our Lent practices and finish strong. Remember that the whole point of Lent is to bring us closer and deeper into God’s Holy presence. It’s not so much about “giving up” as it is “focusing in” on who God is and whose we are. That focus allows God to be glorified in our lives and the crowd of people around us will know we are Christ-followers by our example.

The finish line is in sight! No turning back.

Almost There

When Little is Better

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever locked yourself out of your house or is it just me? We were returning from a family outing and found that sure enough, all the doors to the house were locked and we couldn’t get in. All of a sudden our five-year-old grandson yelled, “Hey! I think I can go through the dog door!” At first all the adults tried to go through but each one of us got stuck. Finally we instructed him on how to open the front door and not stop to play on the way. Sure enough, his tiny little frame crawled perfectly though the flaps and we were in like flint. Sometimes little is better.

This is the underlying message for today’s passage. In ways, it reads like a recruitment poster for righteousness. Writing from the long-life experience of a man who was after God’s own heart, David assures readers that even though the righteous have little compared to the “overabundant wealth”(verse 16) of the evil, things will right themselves in the end.

Psalm 37 (Common English Bible)

Better is the little that the righteous have
    than the overabundant wealth of the wicked.
17 The arms of the wicked will be broken,
    but the Lord supports the righteous.
18 The Lord is intimately acquainted
    with the lives of the blameless;
    their heritage will last forever.

David sets up his argument in a series of opposites. The blameless receive an inheritance that lasts forever: The wicked die. The righteous are generous: The wicked borrow and don’t pay back. The blessed will possess the land: The cursed will be cut off.

19 They won’t be ashamed in troubling times,
    and in a period of famine they will eat their fill.
20 But the wicked will die,
    the Lord’s enemies will disappear—
    disappear like the beauty of a meadow—in smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and don’t pay it back, but the righteous are generous and giving.
22 Those blessed by God will possess the land,
    but those cursed by God will be cut off.

If that wasn’t enough to make you want to join the righteous, David offers a beautiful word picture in verse 24: “Though they trip up, they won’t be thrown down, because the Lord holds their hand”. Who among us doesn’t resonate with an image of a loving father holding the hand of a small child?

23 A person’s steps are made secure by the Lord
    when they delight in his way.
24 Though they trip up, they won’t be thrown down,
    because the Lord holds their hand.

You see, the overabundance of the wicked in this world is a fleeting, temporary illusion. Whatever they have now will not last. The “little” that comes from doing good is eternal and enough to sustain us though times of famine and strife. In the end, the righteous will live in the land forever.

25 I was young and now I’m old,
    but I have never seen the righteous left all alone,
    have never seen their children begging for bread.
26 They are always gracious and generous.
    Their children are a blessing.

David ends his recruitment speech with a clear directive: “Turn away from evil! Do good!”.

27 Turn away from evil! Do good!
    Then you will live in the land forever.
28 The Lord loves justice.
    He will never leave his faithful all alone.
    They are guarded forever,
        but the children of the wicked are eliminated.
29 The righteous will possess the land;
    they will live on it forever.

Friends, we are living in times when it seems like the wicked among us are living in luxury and power. It is easy to get discouraged to see them prosper while the poor and disenfranchised suffer. David speaks directly to us today. The Lord loves justice! Vengeance will be God’s. God will never leave the faithful alone. Of that we can be sure.

Would you rather have it all in this life or the next? How can we encourage one another to do good in the world? These are good things to ponder as we enter Holy Week.

Little is Better


Farming Faithfulness

Posted on by Betsy

Did you read Hamlet in high school? Many of us were exposed to this monumental Shakespearian “revenge tragedy” in our youth. Hamlet is a story of revenge gone wrong. Instructed by his father’s ghost to avenge his death, young Hamlet devises a way to kill his uncle for the murder. So Hamlet fakes madness, rejects his intended love interest Ophelia (who later drowns), stabs loyal attendant Polonius by accident behind a tapestry, and watches his mother die from poisoned wine intended for him. It ends with duel that kills both Laertes and Hamlet. The lesson of Hamlet is that revenge is a dish best not served. 

David’s Psalm 37 teaches the same thing. This wisdom psalm is reminiscent of Proverbs and follows a rough acrostic pattern where the first words of each line flow alphabetically from Alpha to Zed.

Psalm 37 (Common English Bible)

Don’t get upset over evildoers;
    don’t be jealous of those who do wrong,
2     because they will fade fast, like grass;
    they will wither like green vegetables.

David tells us not to fret. We all recognize that fretting is harmful and unproductive, and yet when evildoers prevail, it is hard not to fume. David teaches us instead to “farm faithfulness” by waiting on God to avenge us. God will eliminate the evil doers who fade fast like grass on a hot summer day. We don’t need to take action, for God will avenge us.

3 Trust the Lord and do good;
    live in the land, and farm faithfulness.
4 Enjoy the Lord,
    and he will give what your heart asks.
5 Commit your way to the Lord!
    Trust him! He will act
6     and will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
    your justice like high noon.
7 Be still before the Lord,
    and wait[b] for him.
Don’t get upset when someone gets ahead—
    someone who invents evil schemes.

Verses 3 through 7 are a list of directives that will help us from being distracted by our desire for revenge and enable us to farm that faithfulness that David encouraged. Look at the first words in each verse. We are instructed to enjoy the Lord, commit our way to God, trust God, be still, and don’t get upset. The invitation to delight in God reminds us that even in prison, Paul and Sirus sang as they awaited justice. God intends to give us the desires of our heart if we commit our ways to him. 

8 Let go of anger and leave rage behind!
    Don’t get upset—it will only lead to evil.
9 Because evildoers will be eliminated,
    but those who hope in the Lord—
    they will possess the land.
10 In just a little while the wicked won’t exist!
    If you go looking around their place,
    they won’t be there.
11 But the weak will inherit the land;
    they will enjoy a surplus of peace.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous,
    grinding their teeth at them.
13 But my Lord just laughs at them
    because he knows that their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows
    to bring down the weak and the needy,
    to slaughter those whose way is right.
15 But the sword of the wicked will enter their own hearts!
    Their bows will be broken!

Psalm 37 offers pointers on how to live in and live as the Kingdom of God. We can see correlations between David’s writing and Jesus’ Beatitudes found in Matthew 5, particularly in the revelation that the meek shall inherit the land/earth in Psalm 37:11 and Matthew 5:5. All of the spiritual reversals in the Beatitudes are reflected in this psalm’s contrasts between the wicked and the righteous. Our Lord knew his Scriptures and certainly Psalm 37 served as a foundation to the words he spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are we when we trust God’s justice and wait patiently for God to act.

Do you trust God enough to be patient or do you need to get revenge? What would it take for you emulate meekness? Be still. God is on your side.

Still Water by Stacy Murphy