Listening Carefully

 

Friday, December 4, 2020

I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people.  But let them not return to their foolish ways.  Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, so our land will be filled with his glory.  Unfailing love and truth have met together.  Righteousness and peace have kissed!  Truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.  Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings.  Our land will yield its bountiful harvest.  Righteousness goes as a herald before him, preparing the way for his steps.  Psalm 85:8-13

In this season of Advent the call of Scripture is to prepare the way of the Lord.  This was John the Baptist’s call to the people of his generation:

Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!  Clear the road for him!  Luke 3:4

The question always comes to me rather annoyingly:  what does that mean?  How do you clear the road for Almighty God?  It’s HIS earth and universe…what possible little rock or pothole could stand in God’s way?  And the singular answer to those questions is just as annoying, like a burr under the saddle, everything! 

Everything?  Yep! 

Picture the road as leading from Heaven’s gate to the throne room in your heart.  That is the road John has in mind, because that is the place where either truth and righteousness, or lies and evil dwell; the former being a clear pathway, and the latter being the rubble of our free will that blocks God from entering. 

One thing God has made perfectly clear in Scripture is that He will not abide with evil.  When we give place to the darkness of evil, we block out the light of righteousness. 

The sun, with its 27-million-degree core temperature, gives off light so blinding you can hurt yourself just glancing at it.  Yet, you can block out every bit of it by shutting your eyes.  This is like closing the highway to your heart from God.  Jesus said it plainly, daylight and darkness are mutually-exclusive.

So, what does this have to do with the Psalmist’s listening carefully?  There are many dots, but a simple connect – if we’ll slow down and take the blinders of rebellion off.  God speaks peace to us, but not at the cost of His righteousness.  God does not look the other way when we choose evil.  And, equally, God does not fail to bless us when we choose righteous living.  But the choice is always on us, the ball forever in our court! 

It’s that simple, and as Joshua said to God’s children as they were about to settle into the Promised Land:

“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly.  Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone.  But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve.  Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates?  Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live?  But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”  Joshua 24:14-15

For You Today

Have you listened carefully?  It pays to do that when God is speaking.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

GO TO VIDEO

Title image, Pixabay.com and    W   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on Psalm 85 see:  The Mix of Religion and Politics and The Perfect Kiss