Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Psalm 62 reminds us to trust in the Lord. This is not an uncommon theme in the Psalms, or, for that matter, throughout Scripture. However, it’s particularly powerful in this Psalm that the reader is warned against trusting in his own wealth, his strength, and his ability to rob or oppress.
Normally when we are told to trust in the Lord, we assume that we are the weaker ones, the ones who are subject to being attacked and overcome. But here we are warned against trusting in the fact that we ourselves could attack or overcome.
A key to this is in verse 9. We read that important and unimportant people alike are illusory. We come, we go, we pass away. Even our weighty decisions and great efforts are not so very weighty or important.
My generation of young people, as well as the generation which is young today, and doubtless many others, have been taught that they need to change the world. The future depends on them. When I speak with teenagers, almost without exception, they expect to do great things. This is wonderful! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to and even expecting to make the world a much better place.
While I still have some idealism left, I have come to realize that the greatest influence I can have on my world is on those immediately around me. I can make a difference in a few people, for a little while. Maybe the work I do will have a ripple effect and spread. Then again, everyone else is doing the same thing. Since we approach our world with many different perspectives and values, those ripples will often oppose each other. What will protect us from discouragement and defeat?
It’s exactly as the Psalmist says. Trust the Lord. Find our stability in Him. He is not going to change based on the ripples of my actions. He will never be defeated. I can trust in His purposes and priorities. I can know that He will prevail, even when it may temporarily look like failure. There’s hope yet.
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