Reading: Psalm 26
O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, not my life with bloodthirsty men… But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me. My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the Lord.
(Psalm 26:8-9,11-12)
Meditation:
The security that we crave—we often look for it in external circumstances. But in fact, circumstantial security is not all that stable. What if your circumstances change beyond what you can control? What if you get cancer? What if your spouse were to leave you? What if a hurricane knocks down your house?
Is it any better to look for an internal security? Perhaps not. Our mindset and emotions are always shifting and can prove to be an unreliable foundation for our sense of security. Moreover, our discipline and energy are limited and our bodies only grow weaker over time (for many, so do their minds).
So then where can we look for a true and lasting security, one that won’t fail us? Only the Lord is such a foundation.
We know that we are unstable and even sinful. Paul said, “The good that I would is not what I do, but the very thing I hate.” But the redemption of the Lord covers even this, for “now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Knowledge and appropriation of his grace towards us brings us security despite our internal instability. And more than that, it even produces the stability that we desire, for it leads to integrity.
That means, too, that in the face of those without any integrity, we can remain secure in the promises of God. For we know that because of what Christ has done, we are free to remain in the dwelling place of the Lord all our days. We know that even through death we will come to our “room in God’s house.” We will not be swept away with the unrighteous in the judgment but will be welcomed into eternity.
That’s the source of our praise—the goodness of God (toward us).
Prayer:
Lord, life is insecure. We want to feel safe and we want to have a sense of security. Forgive us for seeking it in things and circumstances. Forgive us for putting our hope in that which is not you. Grant to us the peace of our pardon in Jesus, and teach us to hope not in this world alone, but in the world to come—the world of your remaking.
Amen.
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