Psalm 115
Today’s psalm is not one with a full, inclusive theme; instead it scatter-shoots a bit. It’s a praise psalm, so many of the verses focus on praising the Lord. But other groups of verses look at idol worship and idol makers (vv. 4-8) and our trusting in the Lord and being blessed by Him (vv. 9-15).
Two verses stuck out for me. First, Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” (v. 2) This verse troubled me for today’s world. I could easily imagine the world asking that question of the Christians they see. Much of the Christian world sends a very wrong message, from pedophile ministers to far right evangelicals to far left ECO-worshipers. There is a “silent majority” of committed Christians who are not being heard, most likely because they (we) are not speaking up. We need to be who we are!
The second verse was verse 16, The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man. Even as we need to speak to the people in the world around us, we also need to “speak” to our earth. It’s our responsibility, our stewardship. Maybe those “ECO-worshipers” are not so far off?
We are called to be “good stewards” of all that we have been given…
I should clarify my last sentence/question. “ECO-worshipers” was a bad made-up term. As John pointed out privately to me, “worship” belongs only to the Lord. What I had in mind was ultra-left “tree-huggers” who hold the rest of us in judgment/contempt for our not hitting their level of concern for the environment. Frankly, I was trying to balance “far right evangelicals” with something on the far left. I can imagine that there are “ECO-worshipers” out there – people who, for example, might worship the god of trees or the god of the mountains – but if they are out there, they clearly are not our Christian brothers and sisters!