For years I have posted verses from the Psalms and a brief comment on Facebook and now am turning them into a blog. It is my conviction that the Psalms, as found in the Bible, are an example for us of honest communication with God. The psalmists express a wide range of emotions, circumstances, and requests. God is not afraid of our questions, doubts, or concerns. Join me as we learn from the Psalms to process our emotions through the character of God, and see him more clearly.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

21 Days of Prayer in Psalm 119 (Day #15)

Read Psalm 119:113-120

“Double-minded”

As we start the year with a season of prayer + fasting it is in the desire to be single-minded in our approach to the Lord. The psalmist demonstrates his own single-mindedness throughout the whole of this psalm. He hopes only in what the Lord has spoken, he trusts only in the loving-kindness/ steadfast love of the Lord for his deliverance. He faces what appears to be significant opposition and even persecution and looks to the Lord for justice.

The verses that caught my eye today were the first two verses of this stanza, verses 113-114,
“I hate the double-minded,
     but I love your law.
You are my hiding place and my shield;
    I hope in your word.”

While the use of “hate” might seem like a strong word to us, it is used in relational contrast to his “love” for God’s law. (Students of my Psalms classes know that the technical term for this type of Hebrew poetry is antithetical parallelism.) However, without diminishing the force of hate, most of us would have to admit that we too hate the double-minded. We hate politicians that flip-flop their positions, we hate hypocrites who claim to believe one thing in public but live their lives quite differently in private. We even hate drivers who can’t stay in their own lane on the road or who take up two parking spots in the lot.

The Hebrew word translated “double-minded” could be transliterated “ce`eph” or “say-afe” and is pronounced similarly to a two-syllable form of the English word “safe”. So in a way, the double-minded person wants to play if “safe” and not put all their hope and trust in the Lord. In the New Testament, there are two passages where we find double-minded translating the Greek word δίψυχος (dipsukos) that add to our understanding of double-mindedness.

1) James 1:5-8 addresses where we turn to look for wisdom in tough times. Do we trust God to provide it or are we hedging our bets? If we ask God for wisdom do we believe he answers? When we find God’s answer, is not the answer we were seeking, do we ask for “two out of three?

2) James 4:7-8 in a passage dealing with the source of fighting and quarrels again addresses double-mindedness as something to repent of.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. 
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. 
Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Jesus warned his followers that they couldn't serve two masters (Matthew 6:24) for we will always love one and hate the other...yet still we try. So what will we do the next time we are in a difficult spot, will we trust God has the answer for us or will we seek deliverance and wisdom elsewhere? Our following our own ideas of what is best usually leads us far from authentic faith in the Lord, but in his love he comes looking for us to bring us back and to change our hearts.
“I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. (Jeremiah 32:39 NIV)

The psalmist pledges that the Lord is "my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word!"

O Lord, you know how hard it is for us to stay on target in this life, yet you did it. You know how hard it is to stay relationally intimate with our Heavenly Father on a daily basis, yet you made it a priority of your day to begin with private prayer. You know how to face the hardest of situations with courage and resolve—even as you would not be turned away from going to the cross for us. Pour into our hearts a single-minded love for your law which in turn commands us,
“And this is his commandment, 
                            that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ
                                   and love one another, 
just as he has commanded us.(1 John 3:23)

Amen!

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