Most of what there is to know about God in two sentences

Are you ready for most of what the Bible says about God to be summed up in two statements?
One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard;
that you, O God, are strong,
and that you, O Lord, are loving. (vv 11-12a)
You, O God, are strong, and you, O Lord, are loving. This lyric is compact but loaded with meaning.

When the ancient Hebrews spoke of God as "God," they were often thinking of him as God over all creation. When they used the word "Lord," they were talking about how God had chosen to adopt them and walk with them specifically. "Lord" is a highly relational term, a title made possible because God had made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. "Lord" tells a story. Psalm 95 says that the Lord is not just God but "our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care."

You, O God, are strong, and you, O Lord, are loving. If God is strong, he can do anything. If God is loving, he is for us. He wants us to thrive not just survive, and to flourish not just use up oxygen. (It might be worth taking a moment to stop and rejoice with God about how he is for you.)

In Psalm 62 and all the Psalms, David prays his theology. In fact, the best way to do theology is to pray it. So here are the words:
You, O God, are strong, and you, O Lord, are loving. 
This is a prayer you can say all day, every day. It is enough to get you through the toughest times. David knew all about it. He wrote Psalm 62 while under great stress. His prayers were his defiant refusal to allow stress to master him. Theology-made-prayer was his path from stress to rest. 

From stress to rest... that is what Psalm 62 is about. That's what theology is about when we let it become prayer.

It turns out the children have had it right all along: "God is great, God is good..." That sums it up.

Comments

  1. Patrick WattersJuly 25, 2015 at 9:20 AM

    Our family grace at every meal; "God you're great, God you're good, and we thank you!"

    ReplyDelete

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