Returning to Stupidity – Psalm 85

A text – Psalm 85:8-13

⁸ Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
    for he will speak peace to his people,
    to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.^[a]
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
    that his glory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰ Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
    righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
¹¹ Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
    and righteousness will look down from the sky.
¹² The Lord will give what is good,
    and our land will yield its increase.
¹³ Righteousness will go before him
    and will make a path for his steps.

A reflection:

This is a portion of a psalm of worship – It begins like a worship service does with praise and then confession of sins and then waiting for absolution. That’s where our section for this week begins: waiting for what the Lord will speak. They anticipate that the Lord will speak peace to his people, to his faithful…to those who turn to him in their hearts. The Hebrew says something a little different than “to those who turn to him in their hearts.” It can be translated like this: “but do not let them return to stupidity” or “but let them not turn back to folly.”

Have you ever confessed your sins, forgetfulness, jealousy, or bad attitudes, even sincerely, only to just return to those misdeeds the very same afternoon? It might be wise to translate the end of verse 8 “do not let them return to stupidity.” Sometimes I feel caught in a cycle of stupidity. Do you? This is a very mild way to say that we each have dangerous habits that, if kept up, will cost us everything. The habits may involve eating too much or substance abuse or they may involve unfairness in relationships or fooling ourselves. We can repent all we wish but when temptation comes around again, will we return to stupidity?

Here is a prayer that in this week and in every upcoming week we veer away from returning to stupidity. Here is a prayer that, even just once, we remain faithful to God who has forgiven us our slip-ups and the inevitable damage they cause so that we can make good decisions and watch for God’s salvation at hand. Then we can see and be part of verses 10-13, God’s preferred and promised future for us all.

A prayer:

Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for your peace which passes our understanding. Help us to feel your forgiveness and love and as a result make better choices in our lives and stay away from stupidity. We are only human, but we have you to cling to. Amen.