Today's Meditation - Monday, June 22, 2020

Today's Meditation

Read Psalm 112

¹Praise the Lord! Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments.

²Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

³Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.

⁴They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.

⁵It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.

⁶For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever.

⁷They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord.

⁸Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

⁹They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor.

¹⁰The wicked see it and are angry; they gnash their teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.

The ways, means, and living of those who follow the Lord are not the ways, means, and living of those who are simply in the world.  What should be different?

This Psalm lays those out.  We delight in the commandments - Jesus boiled it down to two saying that all the rest would fall into place; First, to love the Lord with our all of hearts, minds, and souls and Second, to love our neighbors as our selves.

Our wealth and riches are "in their houses", not in the storage barn laying up riches for ourselves, but rather they come from within.  Our wealth and riches come from who we are to the people closest to us.

We rise in the midst of darkness.  When the world closes in, we open up.  When the world grows evil, we win the battle with love.  When the world wants to destroy, we create, we give birth to new things and new life.  When darkness comes, we provide God's light to the world.  When the world is unforgiving, we are gracious, merciful, and righteous.

We conduct our affairs with equity and justice.  We are to help those who are less fortunate because our hearts are firmly established in God's love for us.

But, this is not easy work.  When the world sees it, they will want to destroy it even more.  They will grow angry and resentful...but, the psalmist's last words are these for us to cling to with hope...."the desire of the wicked ones will come to nothing."

Come Thou Fount