Psalm 84 – Blameless

Determined to have a few moments of wonderfulness in my upper back porch swing this morning before getting ready for work, I sat there gently moving while contemplating the rough beauty of our back yard. For it is a yard now, not just a neglected leaf-waste site, thanks to the magic of Xavier who recently cleared all the trash trees and leaves. We had let the yard get so bad that only someone not overwhelmed by the enormity of the job and dedicated to the task until the end could fix it, and he did.

I had been reading Psalm 84, and the verse 11 struck me: “… the Lord bestows favor and honor, no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” He surely has blessed me with favor and good things, but my walk definitely is not blameless. So how could I be called blameless? What does that mean? In our world I suppose it means you can’t be blamed for anything, you are in the clear of any wrongdoing. But in the Kingdom of God it means that despite my wrongdoing I am blameless because of what the Lord has done for me.

I went to the footnotes of an early Psalm and discovered that blameless for a believer involves loyalty to God and faithfulness to His directions. Yes, that makes perfect sense. 1 Peter 2:24 reminds us that Jesus himself bore our sins – our wrongdoing – in his body on the tree so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds we are healed.” Just like my back yard, I had let my life become filled with trash until I met Jesus, and even now junk and garbage can creep in. Like Xavier, my Savior did all the work for me – the rough beauty of God’s Son suffering on a cross to demonstrate His love for me. And for anyone who will believe it. My responsibility is to be loyal to Him and faithful to listen to Him through His Word and His people.

Thank you, Father, for the rough beauty of Jesus and for making a way for me to be blameless before You.