When Why No Longer Matters (#793)

Wayne's been having trouble praying through some of the Psalms recently seeing how ego-centric many of their requests were, and he invites Kyle into this part of his journey. From their limited vantage point, the Psalmists couldn't see a larger purpose to God at work in the world other than their own comfort and ease. It was all part of a larger story that they couldn't see, but a great reminder for all of us that the way God works is on a much grander scale than we can comprehend, which is why it is critically important for us to walk each day in the light he gives us, not the natural conclusions of our own reasoning. When you do that needing to know why something happens is no longer important.

Podcast Notes:
The Jesus Lens
Email Kyle
Past Podcasts with Kyle
Order Wayne's new book Live Loved Free Full

8 Comments

  1. Great conversation today. I have been finding the OT more difficult to read in the past few years for the same reasons. I was often in reaction to the language in many of the Psalms that seemed to contradict the words of Christ when it came to how to treat our enemies.
    In the past few months, I reached a very similar conclusion as to how to read these Psalms.
    My journals are sometimes like these Psalms: pity parties, and self justification, and emotional expressions of what I am feeling – valid feelings but not necessarily the heart of God. Eventually I process through to the truth of the matter and God’s heart, with repentance and forgiveness and a request to bless my enemies. But if you read only a segment of my journal you might think I was wanting God to destroy someone.
    LOL, now when I read the Psalms, I admonish the psalmist to cast their cares on the Lord and stop asking for vengeance – to love their enemies. I now change the words about asking God to destroy our enemies, to asking for God’s mercy on them. When I do this, the Psalms take on a much different tone. It also reinforces my own internal dialogue to pray for my enemies and to do good to those who I am in conflict with. I am still in process in that area.

  2. The thing that I think is so sad is that much of what is being taught by “religion” even in this day is keeping people stuck in an Old Testament mind-set. Even considering the whole Christian Nationalism which is consuming many people comes from an Old Testament mind-set ….. God wants to care for our ‘nation” as He was with Israel?
    We get so distracted with what God ‘should’ be doing according to our perception of the interpretation of The Book of Revelation, instead, as you said Wayne being ready to listen for & look to Abba for His Spirit to empower us to live in His Kingdom reality which will be evidenced by the fruit of His Spirit.

  3. The Psalms along with having some very inspirational, instructional and prophetic passages also contain snapshots of the mind set of the children of Israel at that time. They were a nation that God used to evict the inhabitants of the land of Canaan with the edge of the sword and to expect them to have any other response to their enemies would be hard to imagine. The Psalms are a window into the hearts and minds and some was very inspirational and some were unchristian responses for our day and age. Thankfully we have both the OT and NT to put everything in it’s correct perspective.

  4. A 3rd political party sounds glorious…until then can you give me any info on the news sources you find trustworthy. I was not aware of how small the funds were that went to Covid relief from the stimulus package. I’d really like to be informed better and have cut back most of my sources of news this past year due to all the spin. But I owe it to my kids and grandkids to be informed better. Thanks for sharing the psalms with us on this episode.

    • Hi Nancy. I know of no media outlet that gives a balanced picture of what’s going on in the world, sadly. It is one of the great problems confronting our Republic. People only want to read what they want to hear. I read and watch media from both sides, but what I mostly do is listen for voices that are saying things that would cost them with their tribe. So when I hear a Democrat tell me what’s in a Democratic bill that concerns him, I pay attention. Same with Republicans. Most people pander to their own crowd and lie to obscure what’s true. I listen for those truth-tellers who don’t just fit into the crowd but explore something between the extremes. It takes a bit of work, but it is doable. When people say pretty much what you’d expect them to say, you can be they are lying, especially if they are politicians.

  5. I have been fortunate to have bumped into a few Old Testament scholars over the last 10 years or so. Walter Brueggemann and Amy Jill Levine are two of them. Both have shed a beautiful light on the Psalms.

Comments are closed.