Around the beginning of August, I realized I'd fallen into my usual summer Bible reading slump -- as in, I wasn't doing any at all, outside of Sunday morning sermons. Bible Study Fellowship keeps me accountable during the academic year, and I always have great intentions for summer self-study, but, well, you know, all the usual excuses.
Anyway, as I was saying, around the beginning of August, I decided to read through all of the Psalms before the baby arrives. It's an ambiguous goal, obviously, since the end date is unknown, but I found an approximately-two-month-long plan and set in. (When Levi asked to read through the whole Bible, I downloaded an easy "Reading Plan" app that has dozens of plan options.) I'm already two weeks behind but determined to keep going. I read from the ESV app on my phone, which has really easy-to-use features for highlighting and note-taking, plus I can grab it off the nightstand and read in the dark as soon as I wake up. I try to highlight or write a note on something every day, though I can't say I'm doing a good job of holding these thoughts in my head throughout the day. (I sometimes wonder if all moms of young children would test positive for ADD, regardless of what they were like before children.)
This morning I was in Psalm 51 when I was struck by something I'd never seen before. The words mid-Psalm are quite familiar to most of us, thanks to Keith Green and the praise choruses of the 1970s:
Create in me a clean heart, O God
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence
And take not your Holy Spirit from me
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
And uphold me with a willing spirit
(vv. 10-12, ESV)
[Am I the only person who has an impossible time reading that last line with the ESV words, after singing the song for so many decades?!]
But it was verse 13 that really caught my attention: Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Isn't that what I do all day long, every single day? Attempt to teach a small crowd of transgressors the ways of God? But according to that "then" at the beginning of verse 13, I can't do it without having experienced the forgiveness, transformation, restoration, salvation, and upholding of the previous verses.
I cannot rightfully expect my sinful children to return to God without having done so myself. Time to meditate a little more on this familiar psalm . . . with or without Keith Green singing in my head.
End note: if you are not familiar with Keith Green, his story is fascinating. A youth leader lent me his biography, No Compromise, in middle school. I had never before encountered his sort of radical Jesus-following, and it left an impression.
Anyway, as I was saying, around the beginning of August, I decided to read through all of the Psalms before the baby arrives. It's an ambiguous goal, obviously, since the end date is unknown, but I found an approximately-two-month-long plan and set in. (When Levi asked to read through the whole Bible, I downloaded an easy "Reading Plan" app that has dozens of plan options.) I'm already two weeks behind but determined to keep going. I read from the ESV app on my phone, which has really easy-to-use features for highlighting and note-taking, plus I can grab it off the nightstand and read in the dark as soon as I wake up. I try to highlight or write a note on something every day, though I can't say I'm doing a good job of holding these thoughts in my head throughout the day. (I sometimes wonder if all moms of young children would test positive for ADD, regardless of what they were like before children.)
This morning I was in Psalm 51 when I was struck by something I'd never seen before. The words mid-Psalm are quite familiar to most of us, thanks to Keith Green and the praise choruses of the 1970s:
Create in me a clean heart, O God
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence
And take not your Holy Spirit from me
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
And uphold me with a willing spirit
(vv. 10-12, ESV)
[Am I the only person who has an impossible time reading that last line with the ESV words, after singing the song for so many decades?!]
But it was verse 13 that really caught my attention: Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Isn't that what I do all day long, every single day? Attempt to teach a small crowd of transgressors the ways of God? But according to that "then" at the beginning of verse 13, I can't do it without having experienced the forgiveness, transformation, restoration, salvation, and upholding of the previous verses.
I cannot rightfully expect my sinful children to return to God without having done so myself. Time to meditate a little more on this familiar psalm . . . with or without Keith Green singing in my head.
End note: if you are not familiar with Keith Green, his story is fascinating. A youth leader lent me his biography, No Compromise, in middle school. I had never before encountered his sort of radical Jesus-following, and it left an impression.
Comments
Post a Comment