I would like to ask for your responses after reading this psalm. (it may have been a while back, i know, but hey, it's good to revisit and refresh your memories, right?)
I felt a deep sense of comfort and awe and a fear at the same time, if that is at all possible. Firstly, i was deeply comforted by verse 10 which says
'All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his
covenant and his decrees.' (NRSV)
My own interpretation of this verse was a reassurance that, if we keep his covenant and his decrees, then God, will deal with us only through steadfast love and faithfulness, a mightily reassuring thought.
Then of course, i realised the conditional nature of this promise. Although it is a little pessimistic to focus on the condition rather than the promise, i had to realise that the promise only held '...for those who keep his covenant and his decrees'. And it was easy to see how, for someone like myself who struggles to fulfill that condition on a daily basis, the promise seemed just out of reach.
And yet David is like us as well, consistently asking God to forgive his sins in the psalm (v.7, v.11, v.18). So it seems to suggest that meeting the condition is not impossible.
I was lastly struck by David's request in v.21, where he asks God to provide him with integrity and uprightness, and it dawned on me that if we lived our lives with integrity and uprightness, even in the small day to day things that we often ignore, then we will be completely keeping his covenant and his decrees.
So, i would like to ask you to think about these questions and perhaps respond if you feel inclined to:
- What does it mean to 'keep his covenant'?
- What do think is involved in living with integrity and uprightness?
