Scripture for the day- Psalm 18:25-26
The beauty of the Book of Psalms lies in its continuity. You can read from Psalm 1 to 150 and find a consistent flow that comprises 3 main themes:
1. The wickedness of men
2. The sufferings and restoration of the righteous
3. The nature of God, which upholds justice and mercy
Nonetheless, hidden between the apparently similar chapters are countless gems that act as subtle reminders to walk in the love of Christ.
Meditating on Psalm 18:25-26
With the merciful, You will show yourself merciful ;
With a blameless man, You will show yourself blameless
With the pure, You will show Yourself pure ;
And with the devious, You will show Yourself shrewd.
When I came across these verses, I stopped for a moment and re-read them.
To my logical mind, they equated to “tit for tat”.
Yet, if God is a God of give and take, the cross of Christ holds no stance, cause the act on the cross can never be reciprocated!
For who would die for another righteous man, let alone for the wicked? (Romans 5:7)
Man, even in his utmost act of love, can’t think of sacrificing his life for another human, no matter how closely connected they are.
Life, in general, is dear to all.
No…these verses don’t reflect our actions toward God, well not directly.
How do I know? Read them again- “With the merciful, You will show yourself merciful“
Now, tell me, can we show mercy towards God? Are we in a place or a position superior to His to show Him mercy?
So, if it’s not Him, whom are we to be merciful to?
Whatsoever You Do to the Least…
Matthew 25:40 reads: …inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.
When David, the writer of Psalm 18, saw his arch-nemesis Saul relieving himself in the same cave where he was hiding from the latter, he wouldn’t hurt him!
His men tried to persuade him- “Kill Saul and get the kingdom!” “God has delivered your enemy into your hand so make the most of it”.
But all David could think of was, “How could I do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed ...”?
To the logical mind, it seems like the worst war-strategy ever!
For if you read the story of Saul and David, you would agree that if anyone was worthy to be avenged, it was David.
Chased for years by a jealous, insecure, demon-oppressed king Saul, at that very moment, David could just be off with his head.
But he chose not to.
Why?
Cause David knew he would be answerable to God.
Because the Love of Christ Compels Us
Many of us, including me, try to keep our shows perfect with God. We go to church, sing all hymns, raise our hands in adoration, are active members of church fellowship and yet in our day-to-day, we fail to walk in the love of Christ.
Why?
Because, it is difficult.
Difficult to endure and forgive the billionth offense, difficult to smile and let go. Difficult not to let the bad experience taint our present and future interactions.
We, as humans, tend to hold emotional baggage- all of us do and the longer we carry them the harder it gets to go beyond.
But we who believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior and have committed to walk with Him have a secret advantage.
We have the love of God poured in our heart by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5)…
Which controls, urges and impels us (2 Corinthians 5:14, AMPC) to endure, to forgive and to walk in the love of Christ, even when it is difficult.
True, offenses will come but the love of Christ empowers us to look beyond the hurt, especially when it is difficult.
My Recent Experience with Offense
A few weeks ago, I was offended by some colleagues, and I shared the instance with one of my sisters in Christ.
What she (Sis Linnet) said has stuck with me ever since: “What people do to damage you says more about them than you “.
To think of it, my mum had been saying the same thing multiple times while I was growing up. And yet somehow that day, Sis Linnet’s statement held a different significance.
Even psychological studies agree, we treat others the way we have been treated.1
So, while navigating a sick, broke and lost world, ever so disrupted than before- what do we expect to find? Surely not carpets of roses.
But the good news is we can navigate the ruthless world, shielded against every dart of the enemy as we walk in the love of Christ.
And the best part is we don’t even have to work hard to experience that love. We love because God first loved us. (1 John 4:19)
In fact, God loved us so much that He, Our Father in Heaven, sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to the earth, so that whoever believes in Him may not perish, but have everlasting life, the Zoe life of God2. (John 3:16)
May His love be our compass, our guiding North Star, now and forevermore.
In Jesus Name
Amen!
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