Daily Psalter Reading - Fourth Monday

Today's reading: Psalms 77-80 (78-81)

​"We will... tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that He has done." (Psalm 77/78:10)

The first Psalm of today's reading tells us of the rebellion of Israel against God in the desert. What is so appalling to the Psalmist, and perhaps to us as well, is not necessarily the Israelite's lack of faith per se, but their lack of faith given the fact that they had been miraculously brought out of Egypt so recently. 

We often speak of "blind" faith. The implication of such language is that faith is something that we have despite a complete and utter lack of evidence. However, if we read between the lines in this Psalm, we will see that this is not necessarily the case. To act with a faith like Abraham's is admirable, but very difficult. Thankfully, we have a vast tradition of God's faithfulness to His word. 

The lesson is twofold. First, we must learn about and share the stories of God's faithfulness. These stories come in all different kinds of shapes and sizes. Many examples are found in Scripture, the lives of the saints contain a rich treasury of the power of God, and do not discount the effect that sharing a personal experience of God's wondrous works can have. Second, do not despair if you can only manage to have the smallest amount of faith. After all "if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed... nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)

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