Rising with Our Lord This Easter Season at Work With the Help of This Psalm - 4
We continue with our special meditation on Psalm 118 (Protestants have it as Psalm 119).Our hope is that we can refresh all we do for the greater glory of God.
As we work our way through each section of this astounding psalm, we'll see how its words can help us in our work, to further hone our daily activities that they serve God even as we serve those to whom we owe an honest day's work.
It's the perfect way to pray and work (ora et labora) our way through this glorious Easter Season.
ZAIN
49 Be thou mindful of thy word to thy servant, in which thou hast given me hope. 50 This hath comforted me in my humiliation: because thy word hath enlivened me. 51 The proud did iniquitously altogether: but I declined not from thy law. 52 I remembered, O Lord, thy judgments of old: and I was comforted. 53 A fainting hath taken hold of me, because of the wicked that forsake thy law. 54 Thy justifications were the subject of my song, in the place of my pilgrimage. 55 In the night I have remembered thy name, O Lord: and have kept thy law. 56 This happened to me: because I sought after thy justifications.
Keeping God's Law in our hearts and minds each day gives us hope. When we perform our daily tasks for the greater glory of God, His Law can and should inform all we do. We don't simply do it for Him, but we do all according to His Law.
If we have made the effort to work on the virtue of humility, we may encounter those whose humility is wanting - the proud. Enlivened by God's work - His Law - the proud appear just as we might appear were we not humble. And when they pursue what is not according to God's Law, we may be affected - albeit temporarily - while witnessing their posturing and, perhaps, unlawful acts.
If you've never noticed such behavior, encountering this awareness for the first time calls forth humility. It may not be beyond imagining that we were once like this. But, by God's grace, we have pursued our daily prayers, meditation, reading and study. These efforts have helped God's law come alive for us. Instead of condemning others, we might instead be thankful that we have - either altogether or in part - separated ourselves from this crowd of the proud.
Our devotion to God's Law remains with us throughout our work day and beyond, even extending into the night. When we arrive at home, when we greet our family, eat our dinner, when we prepare to sleep, even when we sleep, His Law permeates our every thought, word, and deed. At least that's the ideal we can work towards.
HETH
57 O Lord, my portion, I have said, I would keep thy law. 58 I entreated thy face with all my heart: have mercy on me according to thy word. 59 I have thought on my ways: and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. 60 I am ready, and am not troubled: that I may keep thy commandments. 61 The cords of the wicked have encompassed me: but I have not forgotten thy law. 62 I rose at midnight to give praise to thee; for the judgments of thy justification. 63 I am a partaker with all them that fear thee, and that keep thy commandments. 64 The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy justifications.
If those who do not share our devotion to God's Law "surround us" we do not forget His Law. In our work place, it is likely the case that our secular society permeates all our interactions. The latest manifestations of "woke" company policies and discipline may discourage us at first. But if we can't find work that precludes such dysfunction, we can always seek God's mercy for those who perpetrate this regiment, as well as His mercy for any lack of charity this may have caused within us. We simply return to our knowledge and understanding of His Law and go about our business as best we can.
Happy Easter!
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