Life IS Good

Title: Righteous & Good

Scripture: Psalm 25:8 GNT

Studying Biblical Hebrew in seminary changed the way I think. That’s no surprise because today’s text was written sometime between 1010 to 970 B.C. Older texts we studied date back to 1500 to 1400 B.C.E.

We were told language is fluid. When we read older texts even in Hebrew it was extremely difficult to decipher. There are theologians who have multiple PhD’s who have studied the ancient texts for years. Getting a PhD in Textual Criticism is no easy task.

As a novice studying to obtain a Master of Divinity (which requires 144 graduate level hours) I was reminded I am a beginner. I learned there are whole sections in Seminary libraries written about textual criticism. I have a B.A. in Communication from the University of Missouri and when I entered seminary I quickly discovered I was ‘in over my head’ and I faced obtaining 144 hours and 7 years to get my M. Div. I share that because in comparison to others in my field, I realized I knew very little.

Even though I had studied the Bible throughout my lifetime, I did not realize how old the text really IS. Ergo when we consider the dating of the text and the number of years from generation to generation that others have studied and translated the text in my mind we need to understand the miracles that have occurred to get the text translated in many modern languages.

There are some who might disagree but I believe culture is a factor in reference to the text as well. When we consider Psalm 25 was written somewhere around 1010 B.C. and we add 1010 to 2027 you might begin to ‘get’ how many years and cultures this psalm has been read and translated.

The writings are old but they are sacred. God protects the Holy words.

When comparing the dating of the psalms to the Pentateuch (the first five books) the psalms are relatively new. Psalm 25 is attributed to King David and David lived from 1040–970 BCE.

Psalm 25:8 reminds us, “the Lord is righteous and good, he teaches sinners the path they should follow.”

While Psalm 25:8 is applicable, to many readers and various situations we are reminded that this ancient text highlights the righteousness and goodness of God.

When we zoom out and look at the big picture we are humbled.

In God’s goodness he/she (for God is both) chooses to love man/woman who is inherently flawed and doesn’t always make good decisions. In choosing to love and interact with all of creation, God desires to help us.

Every minute of every day God sees us and loves us even though we often make really bad decisions (and that includes decisions that are obviously unethical, improper, and unacceptable).

The truth is we make bad choices that can send us down a pathway to other bad choices.

God loves us still.

God is patient and kind with us (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Over and over again God loves us still.

I don’t know about you, but that realization speaks eons to me. I am humbled by the magnanimous love God has for us for all eternity.

Deborah

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