The Source--by Linden Malki

The last few weeks we've been talking and thinking about being "safe" people, who can deal effectively with conflicts in the various relationships we are part of in our familties and the communities. These conflicts and crises aare nothing new; we find them all through Scripture as well as in our contemporary lives. As I have been researching these stories, I have noticed that especially in the Old Testament, there are many mentions of situations that are often dealt with through the intervention of God Himself. We see God dealing with Abraham and his family situations, and more crises moving down through Isaac and Jacob, and on down through the history of God's dealing with these tribes of people He is attempting to teach His lessons to. Obviously, if they had all listened, a fair number of disasters could have been avoided. But there was an additional thread running through this history. We see the familiar thing--God telling people, through His servants and prophets, the same things that we've been taught through Scripture, and through the teachers He has sent to us.  We have no excuse for not knowing what He wants of us.

But it's not enough to know the words. There's another thread I kept finding, especially in the Psalms. Almost half of the Psalms include something more: the writers are asking not only for the rules and the lessons, but for help. Opening my Bible to a random page of Psalms, I find this: "Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers" (Psalm 141), and this "I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy." (Psalm 142) and "For your name's sake, Lord, preserve my life" (Psalm 143). These writers are not just asking for advice on what they should do; they are begging for active intervention in their situations. They know that they cannot do what needs to be done on their own strength.

There is another thread that runs through this as well: "I will exalt you, My God the King. I will praise your name for ever and ever." (Psalm 145) It's not enough to know the words! We need to ask for His strength, and then to praise His name for the result. Yes, it is important to have the instructions, but as His followers, we have a whole additional source of power: God Himself, His Son and His Spirit.