From the Psalms, Psalm 85 has these words: 1 Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. 2 You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. (Selah) 3 You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger. 4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us. 5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? 6 Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you? 7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. 8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. 9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. 10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. 11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. 12 The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. 13 Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.
I've shared about a dear friend and brother in Christ, who loves to ask that powerful question that Wesley used as a part of his opening with the small groups that began the Methodist movement, "How is it with your soul?" It was used to truly ask ourselves how is it with our relationship with God? My friend likes to ask that question and once you get to know him, you think to ask him first. The first time I did he did a shocked-you-would-ask-me-that stance, he looked skyward, then at me and said, "That's a wonderful question! I'm so glad you asked me that!" and then began to share how it was with his soul at that moment. It goes a bit farther than the old question once asked often, "Are you saved?"
Our soul is great when we're connected to God. That is to say, when we seek God and seek to please God. The psalmist is sharing a prayer with us in which he asks for God to once again favor us with the blessings we need. The sinfulness of Israel would drive them away from God, they would cry out to God, God would send a prophet to call the people back, they would come back, and rejoice and praise God, then they would forget the good things of God and once again find themselves alienated from God. It sounds like most of our weeks. Sunday, if we're in church, we hear the message and we say, We must stay close to God. Monday comes, and here it is, and we moan and gripe about having to return to work, and before too long, the things of Sunday seem distantly past. Tuesday is not much better, and today's Wednesdays are not like the ones of old when it was usually a worship night, and we rejoice in knowing the work week is almost over. Thursdays are the days of preparing for Friday and Fridays are great, for we know we have at least Saturday off. And what we do on Friday or Saturday night may determine whether we're even in church on Sunday.
In this psalm we read the word salvation. In verse 4, the psalmist acknowledges that God is the author of salvation. In verse 7, he asks for salvation to be restored, and in verses between those two, there is the need for reviving us again. Verse 9 states that God's salvation is close by for those who fear God and verse 10 I love the phrase, "righteousness and peace will kiss each other." Salvation is having a living and loving relationship with God. It involves our confessing to God that it is us who have strayed, who have made wrong decisions about our lives and our having allowed sin to enter into our hearts, and our asking God to remove sin from our lives. It is then that joyous process of living right in God's sight and receiving in the process the gift of inner peace. Salvation is not about getting to heaven as it is allowing heaven to come in us and guiding us to guide others to come to that place of loving and walking with God. Salvation is being saved from sin to the fullness of life as promised by Jesus Christ (John 10:10). And those who have that, have good souls.
God stands ready. Do we?
PRAYER: Loving God of our salvation, grant to us that which allows us to continue our journey with You. Let me be revived to You and away from those things that lulled me away from You in the first place. Let me help others know Your love and path; this I pray in Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
