The Heart's Cry: Psalm 68

Psalm 68

Father of orphans and protector of widows
    is God in his holy habitation.
God gives the desolate a home to live in;
    he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
    but the rebellious live in a parched land.

It is highly appropriate on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day that we should come along upon Psalm 68 and these two particular verses. These verses that point to the very heart of God, a heart that loves and cares for those that society as a large decides, for whatever reason, are the unworthy, the unneeded, the wanted, the unloved. Many groups have fallen under that category through the years, and many of those same groups still are considered less than by groups today. At times it is the old, at times the young. At times it is the Native American, called Indians because of mistaken geography of a European. At times it is the immigrant, because they don't come where we come from. At times it is those with darker skin, considered less than human because of melanin. At times it is the sick, or the poor. Today we continue to add to the groups that are considered less than, now we do it by who a person loves.

But, God looks beyond our categories, beyond our attempts to make God's decisions for God. God chooses whom God chooses and often that is in the face of what society thinks is appropriate or not. God chooses whom God chooses and often that is in the face of what the religious think is appropriate or not. God is the father of orphans and the protector of widows still today, and sometimes those orphans have parents who are still breathing and sometimes those widows have husbands who are still alive. God still gives the desolate a home and beyond that doesn't consider them desolate in the first place. God still leads out the prisoners to prosperity, it just looks a whole lot different than we think of when we here the word prosperity.

And those who shun whom God loves still live in a parched land. They may have wealth. They may have power. They may have a 'voice' when so many others do not. They may have all of that and more, but they strive for what is merely a passing fancy and they miss out on the water that is available to all.

+ Who have you been guilty of thinking as less than yourself? If you have changed have you forgiven yourself?

+ Who has made you feel like you were less than them? Have you forgiven them?