RSS

Enjoy Life, Enjoy God


Dale Patterson

ALMOST SLIPPED

November 17, 2011

I try to pray or read my way through the Psalms every month. Whoa! They are so rich. There is no thought, no emotion, that isn't expressed in the words of the Psalms.


Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.
For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
                                 --Psalm 73:1-3 TNIV


The Psalmist gets caught up in looking how good others have it, and realizes, the prosperous often are not very nice people. But then he says, "Wait a minute. What business is that of mine? My concern is not all those people 'out there,' but my concern is: what of me?" I "had almost slipped."

If we seek to follow Christ, the place to start is not with all the others, but with the self. We cannot control the lives and behavior of the people around us, at best, we are responsible for the self. When the Psalmist realizes he'd almost slipped, he repented, and turned back to the proper focus. Let's see to it that we do not slip either.

Joyfullly,

Dale Patterson