I wish that I knew the writer of this Psalm personally.  He’s truly a human being who recognizes where he comes up short, but also evaluates his circumstance logically and processes it by way of talking to the Lord.  A man of God, no doubt…

The one word that boggles my heart/soul/mind/strength here is redeem.  He wants to be redeemed from the oppression of man.. He doesn’t want to be relieved of it, or forget about it.  He doesn’t ask to have revenge for it, or reconciliation even.  No, he chooses to ask for redemption.  Restoration. 

The original word in Hebrew is “padah” which in the Greek translation of the Old Testament is rendered “latroo-oh” which more descriptively means something along the lines of “to deliver from evils of every kind; external and internal” (BlueLetterBible.org definition)

Evils of every kind…hm.  It is apparent to me now, though it wasn’t for so long in previous situations, that wrong-doings committed are firstly and in fact only committed against God Himself.  Often times it is the intent of our motivation to act wrongly against other people.  For instance (and I use a common though quite extreme example for familiarity’s sake) murder.  When a human being is killed by another human being, is it not abundantly clear that the crime committed was intended for specifically that victim?  But, truth be told, the murderer’s sin was committed against God whether he even considered God in his intent to kill or not. 

The condequence of his sin is evident then secondly in many instances.  Someone is dead because of him.  Someone is without a son because of him.  Someone won’t fill their usual spot at the table Christmas Eve.  Some bus driver will not get his daily ‘good morning’…etc.  In any case, the possibilities of the effects of the murder are endless.

What’s more, God allowed that guy to be murdered.  God allowed some individual to pull the trigger.  So often our faces become wrinkled when we think of that concept.  God, being infinite in knowledge and power, allowing someone to do such a thing that would have such detrimental effects.  BUT out of His sufficient mercy and grace, is it not true that good things come out of this murder?  Percieve it as you will, but lessons are learned, forviveness is understood.  Ah, these possibilities are also endless.

On quite the contrary, many times it is no such intent of a human being to do anything wrong against another person.  However, God knows the true motivation of the hearts of us all and sees in our most hidden moments.  Yet those secret sins have effects on other as well, whether we choose it to be so or not.  The behavior or hiding something often leads to outward behaviors that are either misunderstood or simply unnecessary.  Lies.  Justification.  Nerves.  Humans will do almost anything to save their own backs, yeah?  We’ve all cut the corner to hide our flaws before.

So essentially, there is consequence to all sin.  Ther is always going to be another person who feels the blow of one’s wrong.  A sin committed is a vertical crime with horizontal consequences, and must be, or we’d likely never learn anything.  The writer of this Psalm recognizes this truth and asks God for restoration from the times when people hurt him with their wrongs.  He wraps up the passage by saying that he cries and is in pain on behalf of those folks who don’t follow God’s law.  He says basically, “God, I don’t want to hurt others with my sin, and I certainly don’t want to sin against You, so teach me Your law and let me recover from all of this mess.”  That’s a pretty bold statement to make…not to mention insightful.

And what does that type of recovery entail?  I believe that I am learning.  And it has caused me to be more aware of times when my outright sinfulness causes others to hurt.  Like the writer of this Psalm, I’m learning that dealing with sin that is not your own is often as painful as dealing with your own sin.  As love and mercy collide with the sorrow in my heart for those who are drifting from the Truth, I am faced with a decision.  I can either react towards the people I cry for and thus insert myself into an illogical battle of futile ends and means.  Or I can turn my trust and hope to the Lord like the writer of this Psalm. 

God, give me the strength to do it.

The last look at whatever you’re leaving, and the first real, tangible thought about wherever you’re going.

But is life all about the lasts?  Do people really just run around from place to place, thing to thing, time to time and only be left with memories of the old placesthingstimes?  It seems like such an unfair does of reality.  No wonder people cry and and fret and dwell so heavily on the past.  They miss the part of their lives that they can’t reach anymore.  It’s a blessing to want to relive a part of your life.  That piece of time cannot ever be taken back, but the desire to do it all again, for memory’s sake, is something we should be greatful for.  It represents the fact that life was good, and sure, we’d love to take another more realistic stroll down memory lane.  We’d actually like to do it again.

But this simply can’t be done.  After several failed attempts at time machines and little nose-twitching tricks, life still goes and goes, and we move on and on, farther and further away from wherever it was we remember.  So what do we do?  The answer is not to sit in a frumpled crumbly mess of nostalgia.  It is only to take the pieces of those memories that mean the most with us. 

Some believe that people come and people go and the bearing that they have on your life is temporal.  They say relationships can only be profitable for so long, some longer than others.  They same sometimes friendships are forced, and time evolves into a lifespan of many relationships where it is just impossible to “hold on to the ones that really care.”  I disagree.  And strongly.  The ties that bind the body of Christ are not mere aquaintences.  They are the product of time, effort, prayer, love, support, admonishment, encouragement, recovered failure and forgiveness.  Walking away from all of that has never seemed logical to me.  Now, when those things start to decrease, and a relationship becomes less productive over time, the doubt settles in, and it’s time for some changes.  Changes….not running away.  Not throwing it all to the wind and settling for just the memories of the good ol’ days with so and so.  Sit it out.  Hunker down.  Talk about what the deal is.  It’s worth it.  Why?  Because often times, those struggles only result in a stronger bind in the Body.  Satan shouldn’t be able to manipulate how we view our brothers and sisters.  They all should be loved.  And the ones who we have invested in, and grown with should not be discarded when push comes to shove. 

When it’s time to leave a few close friends, it’s time to change, it’s time to try a little harder.  It’s the time, then, to remember them in prayer, and communicate with them in different ways than maybe we’re comfortable with.  It cannot be healthy to shift from community to community and try to erase the gifts God has given us in the past.  The most memorable pieces of last year can come to this year, and next year and the years to come.  The people will reinvent the memories when they need to.  But let’s live in the present with a collection of the folks we’ve learned to cherish.  Let’s let the past be the past, and keep these “lasts” from controlling emotions for years to come. 

Now, how about those “firsts?”

Now there are two places I’d like to go with this thread of discussion.

1.)  For the Biblical writers like Paul, John, Mark, Luke, Moses, the prophets, David…they don’t actually have anymore words that we can hear right now.  All they gave us (and it is sufficient) was what they wrote down thousands of years ago.  They wrote it and God inspired it, and it was meant to be passed down through the ages, even to us, here in America and around the world in the 21st century.  Now, seeing as to how they, as human being, probably had the same initial thought when they tried to communicate (“This is what I mean.  I’m trying to write this in a way that folks can understand…I hope they don’t misinterpret…”) do you think that it is appropriate that we, as a post-modern, and sometimes generally selfish culture take what they wrote and turn it into something that fits our context only?  Do you think it is wise to manipulate the Holy Script into a set of improperly interpreted applications to comfortably fit our generation?  Further more, do you think Paul was thinking about YOU when he wrote to Corinth?  Doubtful.  Very doubtful.  Does the Scripture apply to us at all?  Why YES of course.  But through what lens are you looking at it?  If it is not through that of the writer and what circumstance he was writing for, we cannot possibly understand what action is meant to be taken after our reading of their words.  The Scriptures are intense.  While there are things to be simply grasped, it is important that we don’t go switching around the intent of authors to accomodate what we wish for the Bible to say. 

2.)  Isn’t it a wonderful concept that, over time, as we progress as human beings, our minds are set up in a way in order that they will continue to grow?  Even when something tragic happens, say a car accident, where the brain is traumatically damaged, it still progresses after that moment.  It always is learning.  Vocabulary is a beautiful use of the brain.  The expression of thought by way of a culturally infused set of words, syllables crunched together, to make phrases which make sentences, paragraphs, letters, books, songs, poems, eulogies, sermons, presidential election speeches…The base of it all are simple words. 

But they can be so destructive…

Like gasoline, words cause wars.  Selfish ambition.  The human motivation.  Greed.  Power.  Lies.  Pride.  Just as every good thing can be spoken of, so can every bad thing.  So little a thing is a word, yet only a few could ruin friendships.  James 3 talks about the tongue being like a rudder on a ship.  Its size suggests that it hasn’t much pull, yet, the responsibility of the whole boat rests on it alone.  It is difficult to think of what things I’ve damaged with my words…

Ah, but!  We always have them!   When we make a mistake and say something we wish we wouldn’t have, there are always more words.  UNlike gasoline, words aren’t expensive.  They don’t run out over time and they don’t demand you drilling a hole in the ground to get more of them.  They’re costless.  We can use them as much or as little as necessary.  Words are something we always have freedom with.  No one can ever control what you say…at least not yet.  There is not a mechanism that constrains the vocal cords and prohibits speech.  Children speak scream, and no one can stop them.  Teenagers curse and we lecture, but if they really desire to, they continue with it.  Adults talk endlessly of politics and world events, and they never quit.  We were born with the ability to make noise, and we do so.

We build bridges with words.  We make peace with words.  We apologize.  We sing.  We clear up things that words have messed up.  We turn the ship in a different direction.  We suggest ideas.  We take action.  Words, in whatever way you speak, are the basis of communication.  We shouldn’t take them so lightly.  Every word has an effect of someone. 

It’s difficult to think of how many times my words have been misinterpreted…how many times I’ve only made matterd worse with them…further more, how many times I didn’t reconstruct some sentences to try to make things better.

Thank God for endless words…a blessing and a curse.

And His Word…just a blessing.

We question so often our ability to live as we ought.  We question our purpose.  We question our motives.  We question our origin and the motive of the Originator.  But truly, because of our pride we declare that we want to know the secrets of God; the answers to these things.  Yet, in humility, we understand that our minds could not handle the answers, and thusly, we are content to rest in promises that we have seen kept time and time again. 

Will we ever cease to scratch our heads in wonder…sometimes, in anger slamming fists through walls and throwing hands up in the air?  No.  Never.  We will always want to know.  And we will always be selfish.  But we must always remember that the secrets of life are not our because they cannot be ours.  We must choose to understand that God, in His merciful will has given to us all that we need to know in order to be the best that we can be.  Answers, though so often they resolve questions, are not the essence of our lives.  In fact, the opposite is.  Mystery. 

We must decide to trust that our finite concept of life is exactly where we need to be in order to pursue Salvation.  Understanding comes with the knowledge of God and not the answers to the world’s curious speculation.

Deuteronomy 29:29