Psalm Meditation 659
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
February 3, 2013

Psalm 86
1 Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God;
3 be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all day long.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.
6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication.
7 In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me.
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.
9 All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
10 For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
14 O God, the insolent rise up against me; a band of ruffians seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant; save the child of your serving girl.
17 Show me a sign of your favor, so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame, because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
(NRSV)

I am sure that there are people with undivided hearts, who revere God in everything they do. I don’t think I know any of those people. The people I know are in a constant battle between our own selfishness and our desire to live as God would have us live. It does not make us bad people: it makes us people. As a part of our survival instinct we keep an eye to our own best interest even as we serve God and others with out actions. Some folks look to their service and see themselves as amazingly godly. Other folks look to their selfish motives and see themselves as hypocritical pretenders in their service to God. Most of us serve with a combination of motives.

Of the folks reading this, my guess is that even though there is a touch of selfishness in everything we do, our aim and desire is to learn the ways of God so that we can come ever closer to an undivided heart with which to serve and revere God. We know that the love of God is a never wavering beacon in our lives that offers us deliverance from all that holds us back, including our own selfish desires and motives. While we will continue to have our selfish motives they will lessen in intensity as we become more practiced in following the ways of God.

As we learn to live as people of God, the threats from outside, as well as from within, will lessen in relation to the power of the love of God at work in us. We will continue to face the threats and dangers in our lives, however they will seem less threatening and less dangerous when seen from the perspective of God and the people of God. We will find grace, strength and comfort in the abiding presence of God.

January 28, 2013