Psalm 34:15-22
Psalm 34:15 (14) turn from evil, and do good;
seek peace, go after it!
16 (15) The eyes of Adonai watch over the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
17 (16) But the face of Adonai opposes those who do evil,
to cut off all memory of them from the earth.
18 (17) [The righteous] cried out, and Adonai heard,
and he saved them from all their troubles.
19 (18) Adonai is near those with broken hearts;
he saves those whose spirit is crushed.
20 (19) The righteous person suffers many evils,
but Adonai rescues him out of them all.
21 (20) He protects all his bones;
not one of them gets broken.
22 (21) Evil will kill the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
23 (22) But Adonai redeems his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned. (Complete Jewish Bible)
When we choose a god to depend on, we also want to be good, or, as the psalmist says, righteous. We are righteous when we are obedient, follow the rules and are nice. The righteous get praised for doing good. The righteous get God's help, and the righteous get rescued from their afflictions. It's a good god who can do that because it makes dealing with the day so much easier if our god saves us from all our daily headaches and griefs.
But the new thing is that Jesus makes us righteous apart from us being obedient ourselves. This gift is a great relief, for it is never the case that we are always obedient. To trust in what we do to make us righteous is to choose ourselves and what we do as our god. So we really need Jesus' death and resurrection for us to make us good.
Forgiving Father, use Jesus as how you deal with us. Use his death and rising to make us look good to you. Help us to give Jesus to others to make them good. Amen.
Timothy Hoyer, '09
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Lakewood, N.Y., and Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Falconer, N.Y.
Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all.
20 He keeps all their bones; not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (New Revised Standard Version).
THE LUTHER SEMINARY ®
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Saint Paul, Minnesota 55108, United States
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