“Forgiven have Your people been,
And You have covered all their sin.” ~ Psalm 85:2
How the Lord covers the ways we sin against one another! Jesus forgives, tells us to go and sin no more, and directs us to forgive from the heart continually.
What are some of the pollutants you stave off as a byproduct of obeying God’s one another commands?
Singing Psalm 85 to find the path to breathing easy is being available
“From us You’ve taken all Your wrath,
And turned from your fierce anger’s path.” ~Psalm 85:3
By making yourself available to be with others, denying yourself some precious alone time if that is what you value, and being willing to offer a helping hand in simple ways, you stave off self-focus. You stave off taking yourself too seriously. You stave off looking to get your sense of worth from making unique contributions that only you could make that would puff you up, tempt you to take credit, and in so doing, take the glory that ought to be God’s. You stave off the uneasiness that comes with thinking that it all depends on you and the anxiety that comes with incessantly wondering if you have done enough. You learn to get comfortable in your own skin. These opportunities exist when you get involved at your church plugging in however you can in the ministries that go on there as working for the Lord with his people.
I can sometimes prescribe in my own mind how the Lord will use me to solve this or that problem, get this or that task completed, help this or that loved one. The reality is that God may have in mind to use someone else to do those things, or he might use circumstances that I never would have thought of to teach me lessons so great that I never could have imagined to pursue learning them. My role might be one small task in an assembly line of tasks. It might be a task that a very small child could do.
Singing Psalm 85 to find the path to breathing easy is being self-forgetful
Or it might be that the Lord assigns a task that makes no sense to me and seems foolish. It might be that the serving is actually for me to benefit in a way I never would have thought of. Someone might be scurrying around to find a job for me to do to accommodate my willingness to serve. Maybe the job is to close Styrofoam containers that others have filled. Or being asked to stack sandwiches that others have wrapped in foil.* Am I willing to forgo pettiness and do any job happily as unto the Lord no matter how easy?
I am tempted to question in my heart, at times, or even take offense at being unfavorably compared, thought of as incompetent, less than others, or outright rejected: “How does that benefit me when my main purpose is to know that I am making a big difference and acknowledged to be of some value?” If I don’t catch myself soon enough, the temptation can morph into convincing myself that I ought to take whatever I have to offer elsewhere, somewhere where someone will recognize my abilities, allow me to serve in more meaningful ways, and stroke my ego. You know, somewhere like in the Garden of Eden where Eve was singled out and had the undivided attention of Satan in a serpent suit. There are many groups you can run to with individuals wearing costumes with the intent purpose of drawing you in with acceptance and flattery until you are intoxicated, hoodwinked, and utterly deceived. Once hooked, you become theirs. You sell out on God for a seemingly better deal.
I am on the path to breathing easy when I answer that temptation with a couple of other questions: “Is it OK to make a small difference? Is it OK to allow someone to include me and make me think that I am making a difference even if I really was not absolutely needed but simply wanted?” After slowing down long enough to consider the alternatives and weighing it out in my mind, I wouldn’t miss the experience of being a wanted part of Jesus’ bride, the laughter, fun, and fellowship shared with a few dear sisters-in-Christ for a more important role or all the acclamation the world could offer.
“And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make.”** You learn that serving is about benefiting those whom you are serving and those you are serving with. Though I might gain some residual benefits, serving really is not about benefiting me at all. Yet learning that is actually a central benefit that comes as a byproduct of having your eyes on the gracious and merciful Jesus and obeying his command to love one another. It is the upward call’s preemptive strike to becoming a peacemaker. Whatever it is you think you’d like to be called, it is this that ensures you will be called a son or daughter of God.
“So now, O God our Savior, turn!
Let indignation cease to burn!
Will You forever angry stay?
From age to age Your wrath display?
Will You not give us life once more,
Your people’s joy in You restore?
O LORD, Your lovingkindness show,
And Your salvation now bestow.” ~ Psalm 85:4-7
Singing Psalm 85 to find the path to breathing easy is being reliant
“His saving help is surely near
To those who worship him in fear,” ~ Psalm 85:9
Sometimes I want to earn the air I breathe and justify every breath that I take.
Sometimes God wants me to know that he is happy to give me that air and those breaths.
“I’ll hear what God the LORD will say:
Peace to His people He’ll convey;
To godly ones He’s promised this,
If they refrain from foolishness.” ~ Psalm 85:8
Maybe God wants me to be thankful to him for those gifts. Perhaps he wants us to know that we are loved not because of what we do but because of who he is. If he tells me to go wash seven times in the Jordan River to be healed, will I simply and thankfully go, be healed, and worship? Or will I, like Naaman, want Elisha to instead wave his hands and make the heavens open in a ceremonial production worthy of a person of a high status pedigree? Can I do the simple, easy thing like come to Jesus for rest from my burdens? Or do I foolishly think so highly of myself that I must make known the complicated rigor of my tasks that deceive me into thinking I am above the ordinary and don’t need a savior? Better than average? Secretly looking down on those whose tasks are, well, beneath me?
“Together met are truth and grace,
While righteousness and peace embrace;
True faithfulness springs from the ground,
From heaven righteousness looks down.” ~ Psalm 85:10-11
The path to breathing hard is submitting yourself to become the answer to the problems and the sadness you see all around you, and despite tapping into the best learning institutions to contribute to your full potential, you still come up short.*** I found that in spite of the accolades and achievements, the answers beg more questions and are themselves broken cisterns that can't hold water. On the contrary, you find rest for your soul only on the path to breathing easy which is learning from Jesus how to become gentle and lowly in heart.
“… we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
To the work of our hands...” ~ Hosea 14:3
Of King Uzziah it was said, “…And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction…” ~ 2 Chronicles 26:15-16
When we stave off pride, steadfast love and faithfulness meet. Righteousness and peace kiss each other. Singing Psalm 85, it is clear that this is not a self-righteousness but a righteousness you obtain from Jesus. We learn our value by simply being with others and enjoying them as we are breathing easy, peacefully doing whatever it is that needs to be done as unto the Lord, free from concern about whether or not we are noticed, recognized, or appreciated. Knowing that the Lord sees not only what you do but also your heart behind it is enough. The path to breathing easy includes relying on Jesus to strive to match our heavenly Father’s compassion in his continual willingness to turn from his fierce anger’s path to forgive from our hearts.
“‘And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” ~ Matthew 18:33-35
Singing Psalm 85 shows the path to breathing easy is in living in peace and righteousness with one another. This leads us to reckon people as more important than tasks. If I do the lowly task, that might mean that someone else gets to do something a little more interesting. It makes me sad to envy what God has given someone else to do. It makes me happy to forgo my preference to do a more meaningful task for the good of another person. I can stop holding my breath. The pressure is off. I don’t have to breathe heavy to try to be anyone’s savior, but just wanting to make it pleasant for the other person along the way if at all possible. I get to point others to the true savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is my savior too. Jesus saves me from pride that can lead me to take offense, break fellowship, and gravitate toward listening to and relying on those who oppose God, who would highlight all I have to offer, capitalize on my strengths, and make me feel indispensable. He saves me from straying to prove my worth and earn my keep. He simply declares that he gives us worth. Our job is to simply believe him, breathing easy as we commit to love one another and walk out that trust in him with him who keeps us for keeps.
“Before Him righteousness shall go,
Which for his feet a path will show.” ~ Psalm 85:13
*The Lord never wastes the experiences he gives us and thankfully these experiences tapped into my historical patterns of thinking that were caught early enough this time not to be lost on me.
**”The End” by The Beatles
***It is likely that we can be pure-hearted about wanting to contribute so that we are fully using the gifts God gave us. It’s realizing that Jesus is enough when those times come that I’m not being called to use a whole lot. As the Spirit leads we can be flexible according to the needs of the hour in whatever situation he presents us with. Ironically, it sometimes feels easier (but is not necessarily better) to do the hard thing.
August 2-9, 2024
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