A Sunday Thought About the First Day of the Week to Start This Week Off Right
Most of us consider Sunday the first day of the week. Apparently there's something called the "international standard ISO 8601" that considers Monday the first day of the week. But who cares? It's Sunday, right?
As we begin this new week, Psalm 23 popped up in the course of my normal reading and study of Scripture. Since I read the Psalms in sequence (one by one, though not all in a single day) as part of that daily discipline, I must have read this Psalm dozens of times. But this time, it connected with Sunday - this Sunday. Here's how it starts:
"On the first day of the week, a psalm for David."
Right, it's the first day of the week. And this first day, something wonderful, something we may forget as we're drowned in our frequently over--busy daily activity:
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof: the world and all they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers. "
Everything and every person belongs to God. He created every thing and each of us. Do we remember this from the moment we awaken and keep it front and center throughout our waking hours? Shouldn't we? It certainly lights up every thing and person around us in a special way doesn't it? Remembering this, making it our own, implanting it in our brains and allowing it to shine its light on everything and every person around us helps us raise our gaze from the material world to the real world. "Real"? Yes, real. What we perceive with our senses only scratches the surface. We need to understand this and allow this understanding to direct our minds and hearts. If we allow our senses to rule us, we remain stuck in the mud. We don't want to be content with the muck of the sensual world, do we? Psalm 23 provides us with the way to free ourselves from this condition:
"Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place? The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour."
Is this us? Are we such a person?
It's Sunday. We've given a respite from our daily toil. We have some time to consider our current state. Take advantage of this gift of a day of rest. Don't allow yourself to remain stuck in the worldly, sensual mud of the typical daily living that keeps us at arms length from our Father, our Savior, Their Holy Spirit. Even if we're pursuing the duties of our state of life with innocent hands, clean of heart, remember Martha and Mary. Martha busied herself in the details of hospitality while Mary remained at Our Lord's feet. She believed Mary should be helping her. And it wasn't an unreasonable belief. Yet, when she asked Our Lord to tell Mary to "get with it" - to take care of business, Our Lord responded:
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Our Lord spoke to Martha not with stern rebuke, but with a gentle, understanding tone. He's teaching us here as well. Isn't it time we learned our lesson?
In the words of our Psalm today, let's join "the generation of them that seek him":
"This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up. O eternal gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory: the Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up. O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory."
So what will it be on this Sunday? Will we lift up our gates for our King of Glory. Will we lift ourselves out of the typical muck we're stuck in every day?
(If you're not determined to get out of the muck, maybe this will help. It's muck left over from fresh flowers that finally gave up the ghost...)
Yuck!
Instead of this muck, re-read our Scripture passage. It's uplifting, even inspirational. And if the mere words aren't enough to stir you, try this treatment of the verses interpreted by George Frederick Handel in his sublime "Messiah":
As we begin this new week, Psalm 23 popped up in the course of my normal reading and study of Scripture. Since I read the Psalms in sequence (one by one, though not all in a single day) as part of that daily discipline, I must have read this Psalm dozens of times. But this time, it connected with Sunday - this Sunday. Here's how it starts:
"On the first day of the week, a psalm for David."
Right, it's the first day of the week. And this first day, something wonderful, something we may forget as we're drowned in our frequently over--busy daily activity:
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof: the world and all they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers. "
Everything and every person belongs to God. He created every thing and each of us. Do we remember this from the moment we awaken and keep it front and center throughout our waking hours? Shouldn't we? It certainly lights up every thing and person around us in a special way doesn't it? Remembering this, making it our own, implanting it in our brains and allowing it to shine its light on everything and every person around us helps us raise our gaze from the material world to the real world. "Real"? Yes, real. What we perceive with our senses only scratches the surface. We need to understand this and allow this understanding to direct our minds and hearts. If we allow our senses to rule us, we remain stuck in the mud. We don't want to be content with the muck of the sensual world, do we? Psalm 23 provides us with the way to free ourselves from this condition:
"Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place? The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour."
Is this us? Are we such a person?
It's Sunday. We've given a respite from our daily toil. We have some time to consider our current state. Take advantage of this gift of a day of rest. Don't allow yourself to remain stuck in the worldly, sensual mud of the typical daily living that keeps us at arms length from our Father, our Savior, Their Holy Spirit. Even if we're pursuing the duties of our state of life with innocent hands, clean of heart, remember Martha and Mary. Martha busied herself in the details of hospitality while Mary remained at Our Lord's feet. She believed Mary should be helping her. And it wasn't an unreasonable belief. Yet, when she asked Our Lord to tell Mary to "get with it" - to take care of business, Our Lord responded:
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Our Lord spoke to Martha not with stern rebuke, but with a gentle, understanding tone. He's teaching us here as well. Isn't it time we learned our lesson?
In the words of our Psalm today, let's join "the generation of them that seek him":
"This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up. O eternal gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory: the Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up. O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory."
So what will it be on this Sunday? Will we lift up our gates for our King of Glory. Will we lift ourselves out of the typical muck we're stuck in every day?
(If you're not determined to get out of the muck, maybe this will help. It's muck left over from fresh flowers that finally gave up the ghost...)
Instead of this muck, re-read our Scripture passage. It's uplifting, even inspirational. And if the mere words aren't enough to stir you, try this treatment of the verses interpreted by George Frederick Handel in his sublime "Messiah":
Happy Sunday!
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