Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Formula for a Lonely Life

Tuesday, August 21, 2018
I will sing of your love and justice, Lord.  I will praise you with songs.  I will be careful to live a blameless life—when will you come to help me?  I will lead a life of integrity in my own home.  I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar.  I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them.  I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil.  I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors.  I will not endure conceit and pride.  I will search for faithful people to be my companions.  Only those who are above reproach will be allowed to serve me.  I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house, and liars will not stay in my presence.  My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked and free the city of the Lord from their grip.  Psalm 101:1-8(NLT)   
Man, there are a LOT of I will’s and I will not’s in that Psalm!  The author is David, according to many scholars, and it agrees strongly with what Scripture says about Israel’s king:  …for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart.  1 Samuel 13:14b(NLT) But David didn’t live up to that list of do’s and don’ts.  In fact, if you simply read the account of David’s sin with Bathsheba[2], you’ll find that the list-maker broke every single vow he made in Psalm 101. 
Lists are everywhere; there are checklists, to-do lists, parts lists, bucket-lists, and some-assembly-required lists…the (ahem) list of lists is endless! 
Lists can be very helpful, such as when I go to the store to pick up a few items…or many; without that list my life would be one continuous treadmill of return trips for a hundred forgotten items.  In my life’s work of ministry lists of the sheep for which I’m responsible is a must.  I have lists of who is in the hospital, in-crisis, has a need, or is just someone I haven’t contacted in a while.  I do depend upon my lists!
But lists can also set you up for a fall!  Once you make a list you become something of a slave to its completion.  And you also create evidence of neglect when you don’t finish what you started.
One thing I noticed about David’s list of wills and won’t is how he set himself up for a lonely life.  If you eliminate contact with all the people he categorized as he attempted to lead a “blameless life” you will also experience the loneliness of a deserted island.  David promised he would not be around anything vile or vulgar, crooked people, perverse ideas, slander, conceit, pride, reproachable people, deceivers, and liars. 
David didn’t list the hypocrites (how could he…he was guilty of all of that in his adulterous affair with Bathsheba, and the ensuing cover-up, which included murder and conspiracy?).  So, with all those unacceptable types of people in David’s life, who’s left?  The only answer I can come up with is:  children and dogs.  All the adults I know (including the one sitting at my keyboard) have all those human traits David didn’t want to be around.
The truth is, spending your life avoiding the sins of other people can be more than a full-time occupation; it can consume your whole being.  You would be like a bride in a white dress trying to stay clean in a coal mine. 
Yet, David’s list, despite David’s miserable failure, is not without merit.  The fact remains that we humans need targets; we need to have something at which we can aim.  The alternative is to wander through life, just doing the next thing that comes along.  That wandering leads to little which is truly productive, and often finds its resting place in no-good.  Just ask David!
I believe God allowed us to have Psalm 101, not as a pattern we would follow, but as an example of just how much we need grace.  It is only by the grace of God that we can have fellowship with God at all…and that reality extends to cover all human interaction. If we are to ever have a genuine relationship with another human being, it is only going to happen in truth, and with complete trust.  That means the entire list serves as the warning signs of friendship and love headed for terminus.  It is God’s loving call for us to live in grace, and extend it to others…even the reproachful, deceitful, vile, perverse, slandering, crooked liars and hypocrites who make up the human population.
For You Today
Knowing and recognizing (in yourself and others) the signs of grace deteriorating is important…it’s what leads you back to fellowship with God.  So, don’t throw away David’s list…it has a purpose.  And, about you, and me…we made that list…that list of all the people God loves!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com
[2] 2 Samuel 11

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