Psalm
62:8
Trust
in him at all times, O people;
pour
out your heart before him;
God
is a refuge for us. Selah
There
is a lot to commend this Psalm – the need for silence in order to wait and hear
the Lord; to often are we over stimulated and too busy to hear his call to us,
to hear words of peace and comfort. When our world is unsteady and unreliable
God is not; he is trustworthy. And the verse after the one above points out
that evil people all of them together are lighter than a breath in comparison
to God. OH YEAH! That is a big relief when we think of God compared to anything
that troubles us. This Psalm ends by reminding us that power is God’s and out
of our thanksgiving we offer steadfast love.
As
we begin to prepare for the saving of Israel, we get a picture of who Moses’
forebears were. Yes, God has told Moses he is giving him authority, but even
now Moses asks why would they listen to me. God gives this lineage in the
middle of that question to let us know, the Israelites know and to let Moses
and Pharaoh know who Moses is. Do you remember with me, when we were reading in
Genesis, the blessing of Jacob to Levi? That blessing to scatter his tribe;
this became a blessing to the people of Levi who learned to trust the Lord
rather than the land – and from this tribe come Moses and Aaron. And thus
begins the first of the miracles Moses and Aaron perform on behalf of the
people in front of Pharaoh. Interesting that it doesn’t work – or they don’t
just walk off into the sunset right off the bat; no in this case it is hard won
and definitive. At this point in our story Pharaoh and his men would be right
after them to enslave them the minute their backs were turned – and so, this
miracle is unconvincing; more must come.
In
2 Chronicles we read of the celebration of the “Passover” this is the last and
most definitive miracle that the Lord presents to Pharaoh to convince him the
Israelites must go free; we haven’t read this yet in Exodus but it is coming.
Here is what Josiah did in his time in thanksgiving for the Lord’s saving
action in Egypt:
So
all the service of the Lord was prepared that day, to keep the Passover and to
offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King
Josiah. And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that
time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. No Passover like it had
been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of
Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the
Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was
kept. (2 Chronicles
35:16-19)
This
reading in Romans today gives me plenty to think about. First it goes back to
the Psalm, the last verse in our Psalm today says that God will give to man
according to his work – and this passage in Romans begins by warning against
judging others for the things we ourselves are guilty of. Paul’s letter to the
Romans goes on from there to say that knowledge of the law makes us responsible
for our actions under the law – and that for those who do not know the law, it
is their actions by which they will be judged when they meet Jesus. This is an
interesting thing to think about – our behavior matters, and why we behave the
ways we do, also matters. In fact Paul directly quotes this last line from
Psalm 62, when he says in verse 6 “he will render to each one according to his
works.” Now we know where Paul got this idea, the question is what shall we do
in response? Will we, like the Psalmist trust in God, and pour out our heart to
him? Will we offer thanksgiving and love?
Today’s
readings: Psalm 62, Exodus 6:10-7:13, 2 Chronicles 35:1-19, Romans 2:1-16
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