Weekly Bible Devotional
“Finding God in the Waves: The Good Book”
October 2, 2022
Scripture: Psalm 119:105
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Notes on the Text:
This is a very well-known Bible verse because it speaks to us about the divine wisdom which guides our lives. We connect more deeply to the meaning and purpose of our lives when we are guided by God’s presence and Word. Yet, we have to remember that the Psalmist’s view of the “Word” was more inclusive than just the written Word of God, the Bible. The Hebrew people understood the Word of God to be a living and breathing kind of relationship with God. According to Genesis, God spoke the world into being and God continues to create and recreate the world through breath. The written word is a witness to the living Word of God. In the Gospel of John, we hear these words, “In the beginning was the Word” which was a reference to Jesus as a manifestation of the living Word of God. For over three hundred years, the early church translated logos (what we now say as “the Word”) in the Gospel of John as “the conversation.”
So, when we read Psalm 119 verse 105, we can expand our vision to see the importance the Word of God, both the written and the living Word as a relationship and a conversation that are essential for our lives. God speaks to us today not just in the past. It is important that we pay attention and open our ears and hearts. The stories of our faith, the stories of our ancestors as recorded in the Bible, the stories of our parents and grandparents, the way God speaks to us today are all part of that Word of God guiding our feet. Through these words, we know that we are not aimless in life. This Word of God can be lifesaving and life-transforming. When many of the words around us speak of death, violence, hate, divisions, we open our hearts to the living word of God which speaks to us of life, love, compassion, service, and justice. By allowing the word of God to take root in our hearts, we are not then guided by the fears of our world or the fears in our own hearts. Instead, we are guided by the light and love of God that gives us meaning and hope, a sense of security that comes from abiding in God and not from fixing or controlling everything in our lives. Only then are we freed to live beyond the limits of worry, control, self-esteem, and security.
For Reflection:
Words whether spoken, read, or lived have the power to lead or mislead us. That is why the stories of God’s presence in our lives are essential to our journey here on earth. That is why we need to come together to share those stories from ancient times till today: From the written words of our faith in the Bible to the embodied words of God in Jesus, the saints, the prophets, and all who speak of God’s love and justice to us. When the world speaks to us of scarcity and fear, we remember the stories of God’s abundance in our lives and in the lives of others. And that makes all the difference.
The scriptures are so important for our faith journey. By looking at the journeys and experiences of people before us, we can find our way if we focus on the meaning and the essentials of faith such as compassion, justice, love, and peace. We can learn from the stories of the people of God missing the mark and from their stories when they got things right.
The Good Book is one of the gifts of our faith. Yet, it is not easily accessible to us because we often lack an awareness of its historical context. In his book Finding God in the Waves, Mike McHargue tells how the Bible was one of the hardest stumbling blocks for his faith. He grew up in a conservative church where he was taught that the Bible was literally the Word of God with everything in it as factual. That reading reduced the Bible truth to facts. This made it impossible for him to take it seriously knowing that science contradicted the Bible in many instances. He was fortunate enough to get to the point of realizing that he needed to read the Bible for meaning instead of information: “All the anachronisms, contradictions, and similar stumbling blocks I found in its (the Bible) pages aren’t flaws in the Scripture. Instead, they are flaws in the assumptions I hold as I read the Bible…when I read the Bible, it gives me confidence that even I, with all my hang-ups, am included in the sprawling, multi-millennia story of God’s people.”
World-Forming Speech:
Based on Psalm 19 by Walter Brueggemann
Light from light. Creation from chaos. Life from death. Joy from sorrow. Hope from despair. Peace from hate. All your gifts, all your love, all your power. All from your word, fresh from your word, all gifts of your speech. We give thanks for your world-forming speech. Thanks as well for our speech back to you, the speech of mothers and fathers who dared to speak in faith and unfaith, in trust and in distrust, in grateful memory and in high hurt. We cherish this speech as we trust yours. Listen this day for the groans and yearnings of your world, listen to our own songs of joy and our own drudges of death, and in the midst of our stammering, speak your clear word of life in the name of your word come flesh. Amen.
