“The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1, NIV)
At the wake for my 92-year old paternal grandmother, her pastor noted that she would often quote today’s psalm; pause for effect; then answer confidently: “Nobody!”
If we live in the light of the Lord, we need not fear those who lurk in the darkness. Though the agents of evil may snare us, the length of our captivity is limited, and our liberation is assured.
Whom shall we fear? “Nobody!” – Luther
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7, NIV)
The “horses” and “chariots” of today are no less alluring than in David’s time.
As disciples of Jesus, the Lord God is not our “last resort”; as in someone we call on when all of our other schemes have failed, and our other means have been exhausted. On the contrary: The Lord God is our first resource.
In the words of the hymn (“What a Friend we have in Jesus”): “O what peace we often forfeit; o what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry; everything to God in prayer.” – Luther
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:37-38, NIV)
Two lessons for us today from the words of Jesus: (1) Don’t judge others; and (2) be generous with others.
In both instances, our own prospects are inextricably linked to course we choose for others.
When we judge others, in due time, others will judge us with the same standard we’ve used for them. Therein is the problem with judging others: We are more strict with others than we are with ourselves because, well, we know our situation. Few of us welcome a standard applied to us that we’ve used for others, but that is how we work.
In the second lesson, Jesus encourages us to be generous with others (in both our tangible and in our intangible gifts). When we give to others, God gives the same (and more) back to us. In this, we should not give in order to receive from our heavenly Father; instead, we should give in order to be like our heavenly Father.
Seize every opportunity to show mercy to others, because our day of need is coming. While we may rightfully judge situations, we have no right to judge persons. There are aspects to every person’s story of which we are ignorant — and as sure as night follows day, the tables will turn. – Luther
