God will vindicate our love of God and our love others.
Each week I look for “the line” that connects the three Psalms we are reading that week. Now, I am not sure the writers intended this “line.” Yet, I want us to see how these Psalms, God’s words to us in these Psalms, offer us guidance to live deeply connected to God. Psalm 15 connects our love for others with our love for God. We are asked in Psalm 15:1, “Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?” The answer is those who love their neighbor like they love themselves. We hear the words of Jesus to you and me in Mark 12:30, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” There is a cost to being such a person, one which many in our society and even some Christians will tell you is not worth it or is even wrong. Instead of giving into to fear for our own needs and security, we are directed to find our security in God alone. We are told in Psalm 16:5-6, “Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” Finally, as we trace the “line,” we acknowledge that so often you and I are cheered on to look elsewhere than Psalm 15 for how we are to act. I encourage you, look instead to God to vindicate – prove right - following Psalm 15. Listen to how we can trust God in Psalm 17:2-3, “Let my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right. Though you probe my heart, though you examine me at night and test me, you will find that I have planned no evil; my mouth has not transgressed.”
AMEN for Now,
