Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Let the rebellious not exalt themselves.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, January 4, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Rebelliousness isn’t always a bad thing. There are plenty of unjust laws and cultural expectations that need to be openly defied in an effort to change them. But those kinds of rebels don’t exalt themselves for their rebelliousness—it’s just what needs to be done. There’s even a kind of humility in it, the willingness to be persecuted and even jailed for their efforts. Jesus was a rebel in just that kind of way.
But the Psalmist knows that God’s law is not unjust, but is the highest form of justice (and, yes, we could get into a long-winded argument about the terrible injustices in the laws of Moses, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about God’s perfect law, not the one written down by patriarchal males a few thousand years ago). To rebel against God’s law, which is love and justice, is absolutely a matter of ego. A proclamation that love and justice don’t matter, and “I can do whatever I want!” Those are the rebels who have written and fight to uphold our unjust laws and cultural expectations. It is these rebels the Psalmist warns against.
So here’s the question: What kind of rebel do I want to be?
Do I consider myself a rebel? In what ways?