James 24:7

I've been leading a joint Bible study with folks from North River Community Church and West Gwinnett Christian Church for the past several weeks.  We are studying the Psalms with an eye to learning about how those old hymns can help shape our prayer lives.

Part of the joy of studying the Psalms is that you just keep running into yourself.  For the past couple of weeks we have been studying Psalm 71.  If you are AARP qualified you may find that Psalm very helpful.  (And if you are not so qualified yet, remember the old epitaph: "As you are, so I once was.  As I am, so you shall be!") 

In Psalm 71, the psalmist, most likely a musician, feels his age creeping up on him.  He also knows that some young whipper-snappers are watching his every move to see him fail so they can revel in their belief that God has abandoned him.   He's feeling vulnerable and fearful.  He senses his fears giving way to doubt.

He cries out to God in three ways. 

He lists certain attributes of God. He notes that God always does the right thing and that God is always there, always faithful, always the supreme keeper of the covenant.

He remembers how God has acted in the past.  Unlike those of us who seem to develop amnesia in the face of crisis, the Psalmist recounts how this faithful God was there doing the right thing from the moment that the Psalmist came into the world.

He pledges fidelity to God.  He promises God that just as he has trusted God in the past, he will go on trusting God and proclaiming God to the generations coming along behind him.

Why does he do this?  I believe he does this because he knows something else about God-something that is implied in this and other Psalms. 

He knows that God is free.  

Isn't that the way it is?  We believe that God is and will be faithful.  We believe that God will always make things right.  However, we also know that God is free to act out God's own..well...Godness.  

As I often put it, it's not that we don't believe that God exists.  We do.  And it's not that we don't believe that God loves us.  We believe that too.  Our question is, "Will God show up by Friday at 5:00?"  Will God show up when we need God? 

That is often the tension we feel with God.  We are mired in our particular agony asking, "How long, O God?  How long?"

The Psalmist, even in his negotiations with God, reminds us to keep on trusting God because God can be counted on (God is faithful) and because God will do the right thing (God has a history of 'righteous acts.').  However, he also reminds us to remember God's faithfulness in the past and to give to God the respect God deserves.

God will do the right thing. 

God can be counted on.

But God is free to act when and how God chooses.

Hmmm...now that I think about it...maybe the Psalmist is reminding us that trust in God requires patience.