A place of refuge

Here's this week's "Opening the Bible" blog entry for i.ucc!

A Place of Refuge

I’ve been spending a whole lot of time thinking about the Psalms this summer. This week it’s a Psalm that’s all about comfort and trust. Psalm 16 is a great one to read over and over much like so many read, say aloud or sing Psalm 23.

Around this time of year in the US we’re celebrating our independence. The patriotic words, sounds and signs are everywhere. Even in this time of conflict over our country’s leadership and over the wars we are involved in, it seems that people are still ready to celebrate.

But just as we can take the celebration and turn it into something that becomes vitriolic (Look at me – using the big words!) and arrogant, so our celebrations of God’s presence can turn into something other than praise for our creator.

Instead of coming to God in humbleness and praise, we can look at Psalm 16 and think “I would never do the bad things the psalmist wrote about.” Instead of blessing God and serving God we can look at Psalm 16 and think, “God is on my right hand – approving of all the things I do all the time.”

I think it’s better to look at Psalm 16 and think, “God gives me guidance. God gives me joy. God is the one who keeps me safe and gives me a place to rest.

What do you think?

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