Psalm 85:10-13 “Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.” vs. 10
The psalmist paints a beautiful picture of the relationship between the Lord and the faithful. In his eyes we are like lovers, God’s love flows into our lives and is greeted by our deep and complete trust. God’s arms enfold us with deep tenderness, and we snuggle in with contentment, knowing that in God we are forgiven, and will never ever be rejected, even if we should wander away. And more than that, he says, righteousness and peace will kiss each other. That’s God’s righteousness, not ours. On our own we cannot claim a place in God’s arms, but God makes us holy, and breathes into us a spirit of peace. It really is a match made in heaven, better than any romantic notion of love that we could possibly conjure up. The psalmist’s vision reminds us of the peace exchange that is central to many of our worship services. Having confessed our sins and having been assured by the pastor that the peace of God is with us, we turn to one another and offer our own personal sign of peace, occasionally a kiss, but more often a hug or handshake–or maybe in post-COVID days, a gentle fist-bump! Advent is a wonderful time for us to tend to our love relationship with God. It’s so easy to drift away, especially when in-person worship is becoming a distant memory. “Return to the Lord,” we sing during Lent–it’s not a bad tune in these times too.
Thought for the Day: How do I experience the love of God?
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