Psalm 69:7-9 English Standard Version (ESV)
7 For it
is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have
become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s sons.
9 For zeal for
your house has consumed me,
and the reproaches of those who reproach you have
fallen on me.
Allow me to show you how I was led to Psalm 69.
John 2:17 English Standard Version (ESV) His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
During a contest of opinions with another Christian this scripture came to mind. The reference in John 2 is over hotly contested issues of what the rulers of the temple were doing. In the middle of any heated debate, can we remember what we have learned and how it is relevant to our now moment?
Meditation in our quiet time can lead to remembrances of scripture with ease. Can the same be said while we are in a heated debate? It is in the heat of battle when we need God’s word with relevance more than ever. Jesus defeated Satan’s lies with truth. Can we hear truth in the middle of a heated discussion with a brother in the Lord? Here is one that probably would have been better suited for the moment.
James 4:2-3 English Standard Version (ESV)
2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
It would have been relevant to our quarrel but that would not have served God’s will to lead me to this devotional series. What I needed more than to be right was to be in God’s will. He provided His answer rightly.