Sunday, December 2, 2012

Meditate then Speak; Psalm 19; Proverbs 31

May the mumbling commence!

Welcome to Advent!  It’s time to welcome the Christ child into our lives in a new way.  Let’s spend time meditating on this thought.  Let’s not allow the commercialism of the Christmas season drown out this essential call in our lives.  And, when we meditate, may our goal be ever and always to please our Maker.  Read from the end of Psalm nineteen:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. (Verse 14)

It is a legitimate question to ask ourselves – What would make my meditations and words acceptable in the sight of the Lord?  To begin to answer this question, we must carefully examine how we use our words in the relationships that we have. 

How do we relate to the people we know and do our best to love?  How do we relate to people we scarcely know?  You know, the people we meet as we go about our business and pleasure and life.  These questions are important and related.  The combination of these questions with the question of how we relate to our environment reveals the strength of the relationship that we have with the Lord.

When we find ourselves in a position of power, how do we exercise that power?  The first part of Proverbs chapter thirty-one speaks to the king in power or the prince in waiting.  It tells us how a king can be chasing after God’s own heart.  Read a couple of verses from that chapter:

Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die. 
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy. (Verses 8-9)

Give voice to the people who have no voice.  Help them discover their own voice.  Lift up the cause of those condemned to die.  How many times have you and I spent at a vigil before a state-mandated execution?

When we do open our mouths to speak, may we remember our humility and speak only what we know to be righteous.  And, one of those righteous things is to plead the cause for the poor and needy.  Speak up for the vulnerable.  Be willing to sacrifice for the good of the less fortunate.

Our words spring out of the attitudes of our hearts and the thoughts of our minds.  Cleanse us, O Lord, that our hearts and minds will be pure.  We know, above all, that the Lord is our strength and our Redeemer.

Praise the Lord!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

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