As always, I love your counter-cultural ways of looking at life; all of which I believe are BIBLICAL ways of looking at life. Like when you ask God to "convict us" (counter-cultural in itself), but to convict us both of our sin AND of His compassion. I LOVE that addition of His compassion.
But what struck me most was your phrase, "Show us the ways we meet legitimate needs / In illegitimate ways."
I was having tangential thoughts just yesterday. The world today offers all kinds of answers to our desires for human flourishing: romance, wealth, stoicism, independence, self-esteem, self-assertion, or even happiness.
The problem is, none of these solutions have worked. We are sadder, madder, and more lonely than 50 years ago. More divorce, more suicide, more depression, more division, and more grasping for distractions.
Yesterday I read Ps. 32 which begins, "BLESSED is the one who is forgiven" (and it went on to talk of the blessedness of confessing sins). I was struck by the odd nature. Who would think that a key to blessedness is confession? We think of blessedness as SUCCESS, not admitting failure!
But as you said, we are looking for answers in all the wrong places. So I though of more "blessed" passages. And multiple "blessed is the one" passages came to mind. But NONE of them said the solution is self-esteem or independence. Instead, all the "blesses is" passages dealt with spiritual mysteries:
--Blessed are the poor in spirit
--Blessed are those whose delight is Your Word (and meditate on it day and night)
--Blessed are the meek
--Blessed are those whose help is the Lord
All that is to say, THANK YOU for pointing us back to the Lord, to looking for love in all the RIGHT places, which is His compassion.
Welcome, Sam! Isn’t it just awesome that the first word God uses to describe himself, after establishing his lordship, in Exodus 34:6 is compassion. If we really know He suffers with us, we can trust that He is suffering for a purpose that is worth the pain and therefore our suffering is also worth the pain for the joy set before us. That his first descriptive word is compassionate has been so healing for me in recovery from serious abuse and mental illness. Glory!
And isn’t that phrase useful: legitimate needs/illegitimate ways to meet them. Ran across it somewhere and it sticks with me.
And, wow, yes, nothing is working in the answers the world gives.
Our growth and peace and joy is in honesty with God but yes, that does seem threatening before we fess up. It’s so unlike most of the parenting we’ve gotten. God is so kind when we humble ourselves. And severe when we don’t…
Bless you, Sam. I hope people read your comments when they read the Sunday Psalms. You always add so much. May you sense Him very close and present today in worship. Karen
Your reference to God's self-revelation and His self-description is WONDERFUL: when God's first word about Himself is "compassionate."
But what I like about that Hebrew word for compassionate (raḥûm) is that it is a word that is both FEELING and ACTION. God both FEELS compassion for us, but He is also MERCIFUL, and so He acts.
It is wonderful to have someone simply hear our story and enter into our suffering with empathy; and it is incredible to have someone who can both enter in AND bring healing!
Hi Karen,
As always, I love your counter-cultural ways of looking at life; all of which I believe are BIBLICAL ways of looking at life. Like when you ask God to "convict us" (counter-cultural in itself), but to convict us both of our sin AND of His compassion. I LOVE that addition of His compassion.
But what struck me most was your phrase, "Show us the ways we meet legitimate needs / In illegitimate ways."
I was having tangential thoughts just yesterday. The world today offers all kinds of answers to our desires for human flourishing: romance, wealth, stoicism, independence, self-esteem, self-assertion, or even happiness.
The problem is, none of these solutions have worked. We are sadder, madder, and more lonely than 50 years ago. More divorce, more suicide, more depression, more division, and more grasping for distractions.
Yesterday I read Ps. 32 which begins, "BLESSED is the one who is forgiven" (and it went on to talk of the blessedness of confessing sins). I was struck by the odd nature. Who would think that a key to blessedness is confession? We think of blessedness as SUCCESS, not admitting failure!
But as you said, we are looking for answers in all the wrong places. So I though of more "blessed" passages. And multiple "blessed is the one" passages came to mind. But NONE of them said the solution is self-esteem or independence. Instead, all the "blesses is" passages dealt with spiritual mysteries:
--Blessed are the poor in spirit
--Blessed are those whose delight is Your Word (and meditate on it day and night)
--Blessed are the meek
--Blessed are those whose help is the Lord
All that is to say, THANK YOU for pointing us back to the Lord, to looking for love in all the RIGHT places, which is His compassion.
Thanks,
Sam
Welcome, Sam! Isn’t it just awesome that the first word God uses to describe himself, after establishing his lordship, in Exodus 34:6 is compassion. If we really know He suffers with us, we can trust that He is suffering for a purpose that is worth the pain and therefore our suffering is also worth the pain for the joy set before us. That his first descriptive word is compassionate has been so healing for me in recovery from serious abuse and mental illness. Glory!
And isn’t that phrase useful: legitimate needs/illegitimate ways to meet them. Ran across it somewhere and it sticks with me.
And, wow, yes, nothing is working in the answers the world gives.
Our growth and peace and joy is in honesty with God but yes, that does seem threatening before we fess up. It’s so unlike most of the parenting we’ve gotten. God is so kind when we humble ourselves. And severe when we don’t…
Bless you, Sam. I hope people read your comments when they read the Sunday Psalms. You always add so much. May you sense Him very close and present today in worship. Karen
Your reference to God's self-revelation and His self-description is WONDERFUL: when God's first word about Himself is "compassionate."
But what I like about that Hebrew word for compassionate (raḥûm) is that it is a word that is both FEELING and ACTION. God both FEELS compassion for us, but He is also MERCIFUL, and so He acts.
It is wonderful to have someone simply hear our story and enter into our suffering with empathy; and it is incredible to have someone who can both enter in AND bring healing!
Thanks
Oh, lovely point about feeling and action.
It’s not my strong suit, so I always appreciate input from someone who digs into the scriptures. Thanks. Jesus enters in and brings healing. Glory.