Blind Judgment

Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me! My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments. Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies. Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors. (Psalm 119:17-24 ESV).

There are always those times when I find myself feeling a little embarrassed admitting how foolish I can be. Today we look at the third section of the acrostic psalm. It begins with the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Gimel. The principle is found in the psalmist request that God “take away scorn and contempt.” He’s asking that he not be blind in his judgment. Let me illustrate abit. Recently when waiting in a doctor’s office I was taken a bit aback when a man alked in with his dog on a leash. The dog was extremely well behaved. It never left his side; however, my first reaction was what was he thinking bringing his large dog into a waiting room full of sick people? Quickly that changed. I saw the vest on the dog clearly identifying him as a service dog. While I do not know why he needed the dog, it was obvious that he did. I should have been thankful that he had him. His life was obviously made much easier because of this well trained dog. I did remind me how easy it is to be blind in our judgment. Maybe part of that comes with the analytical territory of thinking about things, processing alternatives, and drawing conclusions. So many times we all come to conclusions about people and circumstances when we really don’t know all the facts. Sometimes we need our eyes opened to see what’s there. Our first thought ought not to be criticism or judgmentalism. Our first thought ought to be grace and understanding. Just as the man needed the help of his dog to navigate the world around him, we need the counsel of God in our lives to help us. Christians can be blind to ways in which we are strangers here on both sides of the judging equation. Whether facing others’ judgments or being judges ourselves, we can find ourselves blind to the real Judge. Therefore, like the Psalmist, we can take comfort in being a stranger, and find that Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors. We’ve looked at the “ABC’s” of faith these past few days. How are doing in these basics of faith?