Sept 18 - Psalm 36:3a,5a

Everything they say is

crooked and deceitful.

Your unfailing love, O LORD,

is as vast as the heavens

Psalm 36:3a,5a

For the last few days, we've been reading through Psalm 36. Verses 1-4 talk about us -- humans. And in four short verses, look at the words scripture uses to summarize humanity:

sin ...

wicked ...

no fear of God ...

[no] restrain[t] ...

blind conceit ...

crooked ...

deceitful ...

refuse to act wisely ...

hatching sinful plots ...

never good ...

no attempt to turn from evil.

That's us.

Yes, we're made in God's image. Yes, occasionally measures of light and niceness shine through. But our sin continually corrupts things too. And that's what scripture describes for four straight verses.

And then ... whiplash occurs.

Without even a breath, the camera angle changes. The focus shifts from earth to heaven ... from us to God.

We see that in the second half of our "verse" for today -- "your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens."

Re-read that list of human attributes ... and then (whiplash and conversely) read how this Psalm describes God's character ...

unfailing love ...

faithfulness ...

righteousness ...

care for people ...

precious ...

shelter ...

feed ...

rivers of delight ...

fountain of life ...

light ...

pour out ...

In life, we have a choice.

·       We can be proud and stubborn and do things our way ... and continue to reap the fruit of our sin continuing to corrupt things.

·       Or ... we can turn our whole lives over to the One who is (and who brings) unfailing love ... faithfulness ... righteousness ... care for people ... shelter ... rivers of delight ... light ... and fountains of life.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who looks

at that list and thinks,

"How dumb am I to ever want

to do things my way"