I guess three years is long enough between posts! I always have a thought or two as I sit reading each morning, but does anyone else want to know those thoughts? Who knows. So, as they say, I am sending this out to the digital abyss. If it blesses anyone, then that is a wonderful thing!
Like everyone, we've daily pondered this whole virus. Is it real? Is it dangerous? Contagious? Like the flu? Not like that? Worth a global destruction of anything? What does God think about this virus. Is it from Him to get out attention? Is it a consequence of living in a world filled with sin? Are we responding wrongly? Rightly? Everyone comes at this with a conclusion, and many of them differ in what they believe is the truth in this pandemic. Regardless of which track you take in making sense of this all, there is one thing that is solidly True among all the truth or half-truths or outright lies and deception. God does want our attention.
Today I was reading through Psalm 9. It begins by framing our attention squarely on God. Not only that, but it says what David will do- it is actually his spiritual discipline. How he does this is with all of his heart. What he does: (Verses 1,2)
Give thanks to God
Tells of God's wonders
Glad (joyful) in God
Exalts or is lifted up in rejoicing who God is
Sings praises to God
Then in verses 3-6 we see the circumstances David finds himself in, and this is even more relevant. Things were difficult for David at this time. He had enemies. And yet he was praising God, and thankful, that God was acting on his behalf.
Much of the Psalm is talking about God's action and His judgment. He reminds us over and over that He does not just let sin go without punishment. In this Psalm He also talks about entire nations. Verse 15 talks about nations that have gone so far from God's righteous desire for them that they are caught in the very net they placed! But it is God that will catch them and execute judgment. Verse 17 reminds us that all the nations that forget God will be punished.
Finally, I really was taken by the last several verses (19-20). David calls on God to be Who He is, and not let man prevail. He is God and man is not. David agrees with God that nations should be judged. But there is a way out, and that is through relationship with God, through respect and reverence for God rather than an individual, or national, that usurps the place of God.
How does this short Psalm connect with Covid-19? If nothing else, God has allowed our world to be shaken to the very core. Nothing we have trusted in is reliable. Our economy, our travel, our relationships, our comfort, and our health are all impacted. Each one was taken away in a cosmic moment. While God calls each of us to relationship with Him, I wonder if this isn't His message in a more global way. Psalm 9 really captures this in the last verse. "Let the nations know that they are but men." If nothing else, Covid-19 has reminded all of us (collectively) that we ARE but men.
The God reminder- we are but men.
God's hope- He is in control, He is still God, He wants us to turn to Him.
Just like Theodore coming visiting without an invitation, this Virus has done the same. It has barged into our lives like a moose trying to come in the front door. The difference lies in how God wants to use this unwelcome visitor in each of our lives.
Blessings on this beautiful Spring day, from Alaska.
