Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Today we look at Psalm 15. Unlike most of the psalms before, the poet is not in crisis. There is no hint:
of enemies pursuing,
of despair overwhelming,
of being stuck in the pit,
or of God hiding and not paying attention.

The poet starts by asking, “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may stand on your holy hill?” In a quiet, meditative way, the poet reflects on God’s temple and God’s promises. Do you do that sometimes? Do you spend a quiet day with God, away from work and friends and family? It’s helpful to do that in our busy lives.

The poet says his heart’s desire is to live in God’s sanctuary, to stand on God’s holy hill (v. 1). The sanctuary and the hill are “thin places” where God’s space intersects with human space, where God’s life mingles with human life. The poet wants to find that space and live in it, but it’s not as simple as pitching his tent close to God’s tent. It is not as easy as becoming a priest so he can enter the temple. The way to live close to God is to obey his law, so the poet outlines the way of life that lives in God’s space.

It goes like this:

In God’s space some behaviours are unacceptable and will get us thrown out. Slandering, doing wrong to neighbours, casting slurs on people, and giving bribes are unacceptable behaviors that disqualify us to live near God (vv. 3, 5). These are things we’re not supposed to do, like Google’s old motto, “Don’t be evil.”

But it’s not enough just to avoid bad actions. In 2015, the Google companies added a new motto, “Do what is right”. The poet agrees. Living in God’s space requires us to be active and purposeful in doing good. The poet says:
walk blamelessly,
do what is right,
speak the truth from your heart,
despise vile people,
honor people who fear the Lord,
and keep your promises even when it hurts (vv. 3-4).

In summary, the way into those thin spaces where earth and heaven meet, the way to live close to God, is: Don’t do evil. Instead. set your heart right, then do good from a good heart.

Let’s pray.
Our father, like the poet, we have moments when we feel close to you, when we are  in a thin space where our world intersects with yours. These have been for us moments of grace, moments of peace and trust, moments when we sense you are near, when we feel you holding us in your love.

Sometimes these moments occur in the beauty of nature, sometimes in church, sometimes when reading scripture or listening to music, sometimes in conversation with family and friends. In these moments we recognize you in our lives, we feel your spirit in our souls, we hear your voice in our world.

Help us receive these moments as your gift to us.
Help us live in the light these moments shine on us.
Help us shrug off the habits that move us away from you.
Help us acquire the habits of mind and heart that draw us into your presence.
Help us to live in your temple, to stand on your holy hill, to dwell in the spaces where earth meets heaven.
And help to grow in this way of life, until we experience the promise of Psalm 15, “The one who does these things will never be shaken” (v. 5).

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Hi. I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

A Google search for “Reinvent Yourself” returns links to “Three ways to reinvent yourself”, “Five steps to reinvent yourself”, “10 Suggestions”, “15 Ideas” and even the “Ultimate cheat sheet on how to reinvent yourself.” But Psalm 14 beats them all. It has a guaranteed one-step method.

Psalm 14 tells us, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” There it is. The one-step method. You don’t even have to say it out loud — it’s enough to say it quietly in your heart. You can say, “I don’t need God — he just gets in the way. I’ll set my own priorities, plan my own progress, measure my own success. The possibilities for my life are sweeter and more interesting without God. Who needs his laws and rules and love?”

And will this self-managed life turn out well?  Not really, says the poet, because we didn’t create ourselves, God did. Trying to live without him is living a lie. And living a lie puts us on a slippery slope. Without God, the good life disappears. Evil floods in. People begin treat each other like they have been treating God — as annoying obstructions, as goods to be used and discarded.

But God is watching, says the poet, whether we believe in him or not (v.2).. He is present in the company of the righteous, he is their refuge in trouble, he brings them salvation (vv. 5, 6, 7). But he will overwhelm the wicked with dread (v. 5).

Let’s pray.

Our father,
In his book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins argues that there is no God. He writes that human goodness can flourish without you. And he argues that religion is the root of all evil.

We are not competent to judge Dawkins’ heart and motives, but we hear with striking clarity your judgement, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (v. 1) and “… all these evildoers know nothing” (v. 4).

In his book Sapiens author Youval Noah Harrari concludes: “We humans are more powerful than ever before, but have very little idea what to do with all that power. Worse still, humans seem to be more irresponsible than ever. We are] self-made gods wreaking havoc on our fellow animals and on the ecosystem, seeking our own comfort and amusement, yet never finding satisfaction.” ( Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Signal: Toronto, 2014) pp. 415-416, paraphrased)

Harrari asks, “Is there anything more dangerous than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods who don’t know what they want?” (Sapiens, p. 416).

O God, we have reinvented ourselves, but what poor gods we make. And Psalm 14 agrees. When we reject you and set our own course, disaster is the certain outcome.

Our father, what are we to do? We cannot prove your existence, we cannot prove the rightness of your laws. But in the gospel we have come to know you. Jesus lived a human story on earth. Through him we live in the larger story that includes his life in heaven. Help us to live not by intellectual proofs that you exist, but by the truth of our duty to love. Teach us to love those who journey with us. Teach us to love you, our God in heaven.
Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Hi. I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Psalm 13 asks “How long, O Lord?” Here are the first two verses:
    How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
      How long will you hide your face from me?
    How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?
      How long will my enemy triumph over me?

The poet feels that God has forgotten him, that God is hiding. He feels alone with his troubles and sorrow. He has a relationship with God based on the God’s law and God’s promises. But God has forgotten the relationship. God has stopped watching and caring.

The poet’s experience suggests some lessons for our prayers.

First, it is good if prayer expresses feelings instead of theology. Many good Christians would tell the poet that this prayer is wrong-headed. They would say, “Don’t ask God foolish questions like ‘How long will you forget me?’ and ‘How long will you hide from me?’ Don’t you know that God sees everything? He’s not hiding. Get over your immaturity. Ignore your feelings. Show some faith and optimism.”

Helpful advice? Not really. Because the psalms teach us to pray our feelings to God. The poet’s prayer does not start in his head with clear thinking. Nor does it start in his doctrinal statement with carefully defined beliefs. This prayer starts in the emotions. If you feel like God has abandoned you, don’t hide from him until you get those feelings fixed. If you are sinking into despair and sorrow, don’t quit praying until things improve. If you doubt God even exists, don’t avoid him until you figure out the meaning of the universe. Pray your doubts and unbelief to God, tell him you heard that the meaning of life is 42 (Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), ask him what he thinks of that.

The poet has a second lesson on prayer. He says, “Look on me and answer, O Lord my God” (v. 3). After accusing God of hiding and forgetting, the poet remembers a past relationship with God. He calls the Lord “MY God”. Surely God wants to keep up his part of the relationship, doesn’t he? The poet reminds God that they are in this together. Even in the darkness,  God is “MY God.”

As the psalm concludes, the poet’s experience changes. He says to God:
    I trust in your unfailing love
     My heart rejoices in your salvation
    I will sing to the Lord
     For he has been good to me.
Somehow, the process of praying and waiting turned the poet’s heart from despair to trust, from unhappiness to rejoicing, from doubt to praise. God has come out of hiding. God is present again in the poet’s experience and feelings.

Let’s pray.
How long, O Lord, how long?
 How long will our rulers manipulate and kill?
 How long will nations and ethnic groups hate and disparage and dominate?
 How long will cancer and depression and bipolar disorder afflict our friends?
 How long will our leaders create division and hatred through politics, economics, race and gender?
 How long will the rich lobby for tax breaks while the poor cry for help?
 How long will we pollute our rivers and oceans?
 How long will millennials be stuck in the gig economy and the debt we pile up for them?
 How long until our churches love the sinners and prostitutes and outcasts?
 How long until we love you more than we love ourselves?
 How long until the earth is filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea? (Isaiah 11:9)

Our father in heaven, the pain and dysfunction overwhelms us. It crushes our optimism, infects our relationships. All creation groans with us (Rom 8). Everywhere your enemies experience victory.

We bring it all to you — our hurt, our sadness and defeat. But you are still our God, we trust you to do your job. And when you do, we will rejoice in your salvation, we will sing to you because you are good.

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.