Today’s Lectio Divina: Excerpts from Psalm 105. (MsgB)
Thank God! Pray to Him by name! Tell everyone you meet what He has done!
Sing Him songs, belt out hymns, translate His wonders into music!
Honor His holy name with Hallelujahs, you who seek God. Live a happy life!
Keep your eyes open for God, watch for His works; be alert for signs of His presence.
With every great gift given by God comes an equally great responsibility.
The gift of sight is such a gift.
They say that seeing is believing. But in truth, it’s really the other way around. As I see it, believing in something first actually allows you to see what you believe in much better. So it is with God.
Many say that God is invisible. The Divine hidden from human sight. But Scripture teaches us that nothing could be further from the truth. God’s Word teaches us that the Holy is everywhere. The hand of God working in every little thing. The majestic beauty of the Eternal woven deep within the fabric of our lives.
Beauty there to see. But only beautiful if we take the time to see.
Jesus of Nazareth picked up on this theme of the seemingly hidden beauty of God on numerous occasions. Often he would chide His followers to look deeper, past first impressions or explore more carefully beyond the surface of this world His friends lived in.
“Those who have eyes to see will see,” Jesus said. “Those with ears to hear will hear.”
According to Jesus, all of us have been given the gift of sight or the gift of hearing; but sadly, very few of us will take the much-needed time to fine-tune the gifts.
In the Old Testament, God told the prophet Ezekiel that he was living amongst a rebellious people. “They have eyes to see but do not see,” God says, “and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.” (Ezekiel 12: 2)
Hmm.
When the psalmist writes this command…
Keep your eyes open for God, watch for His works; be alert for signs of His presence…
I wonder if my ability to see or not to see is based on my level of rebelliousness?
Ouch. That question hurts, doesn’t it?
As I see it, it’s so much easier for Christians to believe in theological doctrines that state God is not doing miracles anymore than it is for us to believe that our rebelliousness might be blinding us from seeing them in the first place!
Or how about this?
Maybe it’s easier to just tell myself that seeing the hand of God is a gift given only to the highly-trained saint or the set-apart prophet than it is to admit to the callousness of my own heart?
In truth, if Ezekiel is right, I might not be seeing any God-activity today because my rebellious heart is actually blinding my belief in seeing such things!
Maybe it’s time for me to step out of my rebelliousness and go to the eye doctor? Maybe it’s time to stop my prideful arrogance and slip on a pair of those God-glasses being offered to me by the Holy Spirit? Who knows? Maybe I’ll start seeing more ‘signs of His presence’ than I ever imagined I could?
My prayer: Gracious God, You gave me the precious gift of sight. Forgive me, Father, when I allow myself to have lazy eyes, slacking off from the specific command found in Psalm 105 to keep my eyes open for God, watching for His works;being alert for signs of His presence. Forgive me for my rebelliousness, wash me clean, and slip on a new pair of God-glasses.For Your Name’s sake. Amen.
My questions to ponder: How have I allowed rebellious blindness to go unchecked in my spiritual life? Have I become lazy with my pursuit of seeing God in all things? Am I believing that God is actually there, if I’d only take the extra effort to see Him at work? Or have I allowed my faith in Him to slip so low that I rarely expect to see Him working in my everyday world?
So what is God speaking to you today as you ponder the Psalms?
Over a 50-week period, you and I will take a deeper look at The Psalms: God’s Songbook of Prayers. In order to keep all the blog sessions organized, we suggest you bookmark our Contemplating the Psalms home page for ease of use. Keep in mind that one of the best ways to explore the on-going applications of this blog series is to walk alongside a biblically-based, Christ-centered spiritual director who is familiar with how to make material like this part of your overall spiritual formation in God. Many of our directors in our Contemplative Activist network are available to companion you in your journey with Jesus. Click here for more info.
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