Hearing the whole band
The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. - PSALM 19:8
When I was in seminary, Jo Beth and I lived in a small campus apartment. A high school was just across the mountain. I studied at a rickety table beside the window. If the wind was blowing my way, I could hear all the instruments. But if the wind were blowing the wrong way, only the percussion thumped through.
Some of us were brought up to hear only the drumbeat of judgment, judgment, judgment. Others, their hearts tuned to the theology of contemporary culture, hear only the flighty piccolo of mercy, mercy, mercy.
The heart must hear the whole band. When it does, it rejoices like a music lover hearing all the harmonies, played by all the instruments. When your heart hears the full music of God, it listens to the percussion of justice and the piccolo of mercy in harmonious conjunction. Separate, they are incomplete, like an unresolved chord. Together, they comprise the music of joy.
TODAY’S FOCUS
Ask the Holy Spirit to tune your heart to hear the totality of God’s music.