Image from thejesuschick.com
Hear the Words of Forgiveness, Walk the Path of the Lord
From Psalm 82:1-2, 8-13: Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. 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. Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.
As we grow older there are many voices that are now silent forever on this earth. Some have been silenced by death, though in our minds and thoughts we hear and replay that by which we remembered them; some are silenced by disease that take away lucidity, such as Alzheimers or dementia. We long in our spirits to hear them once again.
The voice of God will never be silenced. We may try to drown that voice out with the busyness of our lives or the stress of our pace in this life, but God still speaks. Sadness and sorrow sometimes drowns out the very voice we need to hear speaking of comfort and peace, yet God continues to speak to us. Such was the case for the prophets of old, and even those who speak for God today; stop talking or shouting, and listen. The psalmist, prophetic in many ways, heard the voice of God speak to His people. The message was a needed one, of forgiveness and pardon. God spoke a message of peace to those who were faithful, who had turned in their hearts towards Him. God spoke a message of relationship, desiring to restore into fullness our awareness and fulfillment of our need for God. And where two or three gather with that need and call out to God, and then listen, God will speak.
The Psalmist said, imagine a place where God's steadfast love and faithfulness meet; imagine a place where righteousness and peace can kiss each other; it is in that very place where faithfulness will spring up from the ground (our hearts), and righteousness will look down from the sky (God's heart). That place is a time and setting where we make time to listen to God. God will speak a message of goodness and blessing; and the path towards God will be opened for us.
PRAYER: Loving God, speak that message now in my heart. Let my listening for You provide the setting where Your steadfast love and faithfulness can meet in my heart and mind; and may this meeting lead to the kiss of righteousness and peace; how I need that. I pray in Christ Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
