RELATING TO GOD (Psalm 18)

Oh, my, how to choose? Psalm 18, which looks at character, or Psalm 19, which is the best Old Testament passage on God's revelation--by nature and by word, and has a marvelous poem describing the Law?

I will leave you to read Psalm 19 on your own. (Do take the time. It's well worth it!) Instead, I'll dive into a pair of verses that fascinate me:

To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. (Psalm 18:25-26, MSG)

This verse reminds me of one of my pet theories. Fact: All people are made in the image of God. That means a number of things, including our ability to create, but I think it has a corollary. Every human is unique, and each and everyone of us reflects something unique about God.

We understand God in terms of our makeup. Well, those positive qualities, like faithfulness, blamelessness,purity. He's not devious.

For instance, I a almost overbalance toward the mercy end of the mercy/justice continuum. God of course has a perfect balance, but He shows Himself to me in His love and mercy. If He dealt with me in the way that I deserve, with justice, I would cower in the corner and be too afraid to obey. I would try to be perfect, and fail, and give up trying. So while my mind agrees that God is a God of justice, and understand the equation of Calvary for the sin of the world, my heart feels the second-chance (and third and fourth and so on) God.

Let's look at the qualities David lists: Faithful, blameless.

Faithful implies loyalty, an unswerving allegiance.
Blameless: To me, this is more of a legalistic quality, a list of do's and don'ts, such attending church and not viewing x-rated movies.
Pure: 100% commitment, no contamination.

I'm not blameless, far from it. Loyal? Even in my darkest moments, I have never deserted the Christian faith, and more importantly, the God whom we worship. I haven't always been loyal to Christian institution. I went through a period of six months when I attend no church, after a deeply painful church experience. Pure? Probably not. There are areas of my life that I hold back. Unwilling to accept God's Lordship over them.

Devious? Departing from the correct path? No, I don't think so. Not as a pattern of life.

So how do I feel God shows himself to me? Well, I know that God is faitful and blameless (more than blameless, he is holy and righteous). But over the years I have come to experience God's purity, His devotion to me, no matter what. He is there. In the words of Corrie ten Boom, "There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still." She learned it in a Nazi concentration camp. God didn't send me to such a terrible school, but divorce, incest, my daughter's suicide. . .I came to know God's love and devotion to me in the darkest times.

Love and mercy, as I said.

How do you relate to God? How do you experience Him relating to you?

Favorite verse: May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight. (Psalm 19:14, MSG)