The Lord Liveth

"The Lord liveth, and blessed be my strong helper, and praised be the God of my salvation; Even the God that seeth that I be avenged, and subdueth the peoples under me. It is thou that delivereth me from my cruel enemies, and settest me up above mine adversaries; thou does rid me from the wicked man. For this cause will I give thanks unto the, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises unto thy Name." Psalm 18

When I studied spirituality at Regent College we were encouraged to read the psalms. It was given as an exercise to read them through, a psalm a day. Jesus read and quoted from the psalms which is why they are commonly included in the small books of the New Testament that one can obtain for a pittance to carry in one's breast pocket over the heart. It is just such small booklets of holy word that have on occasion stopped bullets and saved the lives of those who had only intended to save their soul, not their bodies as well, with scripture. The psalms are also found in the Anglican Church Book of Common Prayer.

In the duality of light and darkness there is a spiritual war between good and evil with these forces personified as God and Satan. Individually we are given a choice to do 'god's will' or be 'satan's spawn'. Ultimately we end in heaven or hell depending on our choice. Heaven is forward and progressive with peace and joy and righteousness whereas hell is backward, a place of depression, anxiety and gnashing of teeth.
One imagines that I could become rich with cheating my family, friends and neighbours,stealing from them and indeed killing anyone who stands in my way. However while I would perhaps end my life with the most 'toys', I'd not have 'peace of mind'. The ancients emphasized such intangibles. They were well aware that a man could 'rape' a woman but that she would not 'love' him for this so that while he might have her 'body' he'd never know her 'heart' or 'soul'.
In our superficial consumer society there is a glorious lie that if we have the 'toys' we have it all. The psychopaths and sociopaths being primitive immature half formed humans only capable of that which the chameleon lizard does don't themselves know the 'cost' of theft and 'crimes' against humanity" or the ill they do themselves when they intentionally harm others. The 'still small voice' of conscience is a gps for the 'spiritual journey' and the 'wicked man' deafened by his own ego cannot discern his way.

I turn to the psalms to know God's will and feel comforted by the words. I can trust in The Lord and know that The Lord liveth!


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