Ps. 136, 146
It’s very repetitive, but I like the structure and the message of Psalm 136. It is basically a list of reasons to give thanks to God, starting with the simple fact that God is good. The Psalmist goes on to assert God’s greatness and His authority over all of creation. He then highlights God’s mighty deeds in rescuing His people from bondage and wraps up by noting God’s care for His creation. Repeated every other line in all of this is the statement, “for His steadfast love endures forever.” The very powerful effect is the statement that everything God is and everything God does is because of His love.
I’m not convinced that we can ever fully comprehend God’s love. It is so much more than what we generally understand love to be. According to this Psalm, love is the essence of God’s whole being; all His character is wrapped up in it. The Bible gives us quite a bit of insight into God’s character, Psalm 146 being a good example. But God is so big, so great, so far above us, that I don’t think a full understanding of all that He is is something to ever be grasped. And, quite frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Why would I want to worship, fully trust, and surrender my entire existence to anything smaller?
1 Cor. 3
Jealousy and strife are human behaviors. Paul says that while we are manifesting human behaviors, we are living in the flesh. When we are living in the flesh, we are unable to discern the things of the Spirit. If we want to have that deeper understanding of God that is made known to us through His Spirit, we must let go of ourselves and stop living in the flesh. It seems such a simple thing. But as Jesus pointed out to His apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matt 26:41b). Which in this case means that the ways of the flesh have a pretty dang good grip on us.