oh David… David, David, David…

after many Psalms of “Crush the wicked!” and “The evildoers are gonna get it” he seems to have changed his strategy or approach to the more nonchalant one of “ah, it doesn’t matter, God will take care of it in time”

‘Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.’ [vs. 1-2]

it could almost be like he is talking to his earlier self as at one point he utters, ‘I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.’ [vs. 25] it’s like he is saying, ‘I’ve seen how this ends and we win.’

but as you read the psalm it still seems like he has not yet had his moment of facing the mirror – Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who is the sinfulest one of all? [sounds more powerful in my head when i imagine it with the Charlize Theron elocution and accent] It is YOU, David! Seems like that one is still coming as he is still pretty amped that the wicked [as in “not me”] are gonna get it.

and then vs. 3 hits which is a great little gem: ‘Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.’

it’s like a ‘Love God, love people’ type summary of life – almost like a casual throwaway…oh, by the way, just trust God, do good things, be in the land and stay safe…

what really jumped out at me even from that line in the psalm was the word ‘dwell’ – i think i had a status a while back that went “be where you are” and that is exactly it. the word ‘dwell’ for me carries a depth, a commitment, an involvement, some strong intentionality – don’t just exist or reside or habitate but really dwell – dig your feet in and immerse yourself in the place where you are at.

and i am not saying move into a place and stay there for 80 years – what i am saying is that whenever you are in a place, be it for a visit or a season or a decent period of time, really BE there. invest in the place and the people [even if it is the shortest of visits] – we see that at the Hospitality House here at the Simple Way – a lot of people visit and have the experience and the conversation and the tour… but every now and then someone will tell me about the conversation they had with [insert local resident/friend of ours name] and it is a lot more exciting because even though that person was just passing through, they took an hour or a couple of hours to invest in one of the people we know, even in just hearing their story or sharing some of theirs. and it is a powerful, powerful thing.

many people exist, but a small amount of people really live. be a liver. wait, that doesn’t sound right. be a live’er. that’s better [marginally]

do you know the names of your neighbors? have you ever heard their story? invited them round for a meal? shared a batch of chocolate chip cookies with them?

maybe if you are doing this kind of dwelling in the land, safe pasture is a natural consequence because you have built up good relations with all those around you and so you have other people watching your back and cheering you on?

how about you make a conscious decision today to plan something creative within the next month that will increase your dwellingness in the context in which you find yourself today [whether it’s in a house or apartment or student res or boarding house corridor] and then come and share here how it went.

to be continued… [dun dun duuuuuuuuuuunnnn] but only if you click here.

[To return to the Intro page and be connected to any of the other Psalms i have walked through before now, click here]