Daily Worship

Does God care about the company we keep?

Albert Bogle February 18, 2019 0 0
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Listen to this daily worship

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither –
    whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Reading through Psalm 1 I don’t think the writer expects the Godly person to ignore those who think differently. Indeed the inference is that you would have to be in dialogue with the wicked in order to reject their counsel. We are told in the gospels that Jesus often fraternised with the people on the wrong side of the tracks and it was often such people who were changed by knowing Jesus.

It is possible to maintain friendships with people who live by a different set of rules but we need to be careful that we don’t allow their rules to influence us in the way we live. Rather it is all about our influence and friendship becoming the faith link through which the seeker and unbeliever discovers the joy and blessing that comes from the longing to live the ‘river-planted life’.

 

Being distant or making conversation?

Lord
I thought I heard You say,

You should’t be here

You’re better than them

I was about to walk away

Then I recognised

This old familiar voice

Of self-righteousness

Dragging me down into the mire 

I was too ready to judge.

So I waited

I listened

I stayed with the company

I smiled

I laughed

I prayed

Before long

Another voice was speaking

Into their hurt and pain

Tears began to flow

And I knew

They had heard a new voice

Joining the conversation

 

Lord,

You’re full of surprises.