Psalm 85:8-9…“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.” vs. 8
The psalmist craved to hear the word of the Lord, and evidently had a pretty good sense of what the Lord would say. Based on what we can assume were years of faithful living he knew that he would hear admonitions to seek peace in every circumstance.
The faithful know this in their hearts but it’s not at all what we hear in our society and culture. Our country is not preparing for peace but for rigid authoritarianism and war. We seem to take delight in destruction and in demeaning the weak and the needy. Our youth have embraced violence, and delight in video games featuring death and domination. To go to a movie theatre for an entertaining movie means sitting through twenty minutes of previews, nearly all dystopian films that make us cringe.
But such are not the ways of the Lord! The psalmist knew it and so do today’s people of faith. When we turn our hearts to God our lives are transformed and we get a taste of the peace and serenity that Jesus preached and taught. Contrary to advice of the so-called brilliant minds of this age, the way to joy is not paved with cryptocurrency or mind-boggling wealth. The Prince of Peace teaches another way, a path of humility and contentment.
Thought for the Day: What does it feel like to be at peace?
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