Psalms 36 – 38
Verse 36:1 speaks to all:
Sin speaks in the depths of the soul
of those who oppose God; they listen closely to its urgings.
You’ll never see the fear of God
in their eyes,
The Psalmist continues to ensure we understand sin will not remain concealed. This is one of those major problems with character where we let sin slip into our lives. We never think we oppose God, nor do we think it is that big of a deal. But as I learned with DEBT, things tend to snowball when not addressed immediately. The inadvertent click on a porn video ends up being watched, which results in more clicking and thinking its ok. I have seen relationships demolished because what started out as innocent ends with an empty savings and broken trust. Character matters even when you are alone!
Verse 38:13 is an attempt to make me feel better:
The righteous are better off with the little God blessed them with
than living under the curse of the wealth of the wicked.
I read stuff like this and think great I am ok not being where I want. At the same time I have recently been laid off and because of a rental home sale we are going to survive for a while. In my eyes we are struggling, in the eyes of many we are “living under the curse of the wealth.” I tend to think of it as a curse and less like a blessing, since my focus is on the lack and not on the plenty. This is the fundamental problem with today, people think $1M is enough, then $10M, and then that greed snowballs. In this country CEO pay to worker ratio is 475:1 which is over 10 times any other industrial nation. The “blessing” has become an insatiable curse which is snowballing into hurting nations and not just the little guy.
Verse 38:1 is something I wish I could have controlled:
O Eternal One, please do not scold me in Your anger;
though Your wrath is just, do not correct me in Your fury.
As Vern and Devon grew up I tended to lash out at them in anger way more often than I should have. I would blow my top and spank in anger, not in correction. I have learned to catch the blood boiling before it blows and release the pressure. Unfortunately it has only started to happen in the late teens and early 20’s.
God on the other hand does not freak out like I have, I think God is more a slow boil. He will eventually get angry, but it’s from a loving way. Again character ensures one does not lose their cool quickly, which I hope I am gaining. Just in time for the grave .. ouch, I sound like Solomon now;-)