Daily Lesson for May 19, 2020

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 97 verses 10 through 12:

10 The Lord loves those who hate evil;

    he guards the lives of his faithful;

    he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light dawns for the righteous,

    and joy for the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,

    and give thanks to his holy name!

and Psalm 98 verses 7 through 9:

7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

    the world and those who live in it.

8 Let the floods clap their hands;

    let the hills sing together for joy

9 at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming

    to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness,

    and the peoples with equity.

and Psalm 99 verses 8 and 9:

8 O Lord our God, you answered them;

    you were a forgiving God to them,

    but an avenger of their wrongdoings.

9 Extol the Lord our God,

    and worship at his holy mountain;

    for the Lord our God is holy.

"This is a moral universe."

That is what Desmond Tutu used to say during the dark days of Apartheid.

The Psalms today remind us that indeed this is a moral universe, with a moral end, to be judged by a moral God.

God forgives, yet still avenges wrongdoing.  As Bill Coffin used to say, God loves us enough to address our flaws.

The Temple of Heaven shall not be moved. And God is seated on its throne.  From there come the divine judgements -- tender yet severe, exhorting and even penalizing yet also compassionate and full of mercy.

And so the Son of the throne came: "Full of grace and truth."

We need a lot of grace right now.  But first we need the truth.

And the hard truth shall set us free.