[Monday's Devotional] - Lord of both personal and public

1 - Lord of both personal and public

 

 

Psalm 2, which we will be looking at this week, along with Psalm 1, serves as an introduction to the Book of Psalms.  While Psalm 1 is focused on the individual, the message of the second Psalm is spoken to kings and people with power.  We might say that Psalm 1 is personal and Psalm 2 is public.

 

Psalm 1 begins with the words,

 

Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked  [Psalm 1: 1, NIV]

 

Here, the Lord speaks to us as individuals about our personal responses to his rule.  The picture of faith in Psalm 1 is all about our personal conduct, the voices we listen to and take notice of during our life and our ultimate destiny. 

 

The picture of faith in Psalm 2 is different.  It begins by addressing the decision makers, the kings of the nations:

 

Why do the nations conspire

and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth take their stand

and the rulers gather together

against the Lord

and against his Anointed One.  [Psalm 2: 1. 2, NIV]

 

Some people see the Christian faith as a completely personal matter, having everything to say about how individuals are to behave, but nothing about politics or power. 

 

Other people view faith as being about the big issues like poverty, peace and welfare (“the social gospel”) but saying little about personal salvation and how to lead a good life.

 

The truth from these two Psalms is that the Lord is king over all creation: the personal and the corporate, the private and the public.

 

Lord, please forgive me when I have not lived all of my life under your authority.  Help me to bring my personal choices, my career, my family and my politics under your rule.  Amen.

 

David Long