Psalm 85:8-13
“Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.” vs, 10
Some of those who wrote the psalms were poets of the highest quality and their images stand the test of time in magnificent fashion. In this verse, we see a picture of God’s saving grace that captures the essence of our salvation. Steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace are the essential attributes of God and the psalmist describes beautifully what happens as they come into our lives. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet, coming together in a way that brings us righteousness and gives us peace. And by grace, all of this comes from God, and not by our own understanding or effort. This is pure gospel…and it all comes to us from what we sometimes disdainfully call the old testament. No wonder Martin Luther loved the psalms and made them the center of his daily worship. It’s here that he found the foundational images of God that brought the consolation he so desperately sought and was failing to find in the rigid penitential teachings of the church. The psalmist’s clear convictions were fleshed out in the person of Jesus and experienced in the lives of the people that encountered him. As we meet Jesus today in our communities of faith, we continue to experience pure love and faithfulness and regularly receive his kisses of righteousness and peace.
Thought for the Day: Have righteousness and peace kissed in my life?
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