Love, Faithfulness, Righteousness, Peace And Kissing???

Love, Faithfulness, Righteousness, Peace and Kissing

Today we will be reading from Psalm 23

Today we will be looking at Peace

What is peace?

How can I get me some of that???

The world thinks they know.

Today I typed “how to find peace” into my duck-duck-go search bar and this is what came up …

How to Find Inner Peace: 15 Things You Can Start Doing Today

How to Find Inner Peace | Psychology Today

How to find inner peace: 22 things you can start doing ...

How To Find Inner Peace: 13 Steps To Overcome Stress ...

9 Powerful Ways to Find Peace of Mind

5 Ways to Find Peace - wikiHow

- This was the “shortest one” so let’s see what it says …

- Each of the five “ways” to peace has 4 or 5 steps …

Finding A Quiet Place

1. Take twelve minutes in the morning.

2. Participate in acts that encourage meditation.

3. Take a walk in nature.

4. Grow a green thumb.

5. Commute quietly.

Removing Distractions

1. Turn off cell phone notifications.

2. Complete unfinished tasks.

3. Remove clutter.

4. Unplug the television.

Relaxing Your Body

1. Focus on breathing.

2. Rest your eyes.

3. Relax while you sit in a chair.

4. Kneel or use a pillow.

5. Sit cross-legged.

Concentrating on Stillness

1. Become mindful.

2. Practice conscious physical immobility.

3. Perform yoga.

4. Count backwards.

5. Come back to center.

Moving Beyond the Present Moment

1. Spend time with friends and family.

2. Engage in meaningful work.

3. Believe in yourself.

4. Seek professional advice.

I had to kind of chuckle about that last main step of “moving beyond the present moment”. You know how that is accomplished, right?

It is accomplished by staying alive.

You really don’t have a choice; just try staying in the moment you are in right now. Time won’t stand still for you!

All of these sites had one thing in common - they ignored Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Let’s look at one of the most beautiful pictures of peace found in the Bible. It is found in Psalm 23 (Read or quote at this time)

Let us pray for the Lord’s help …

Now, even though we read Psalm 23 this morning, that is not the Scriptural basis for peace, it is a picture of the result of peace.

Since we are meeting outside today you all should have lyric sheets for the songs we sang. On those lyric sheets is a verse that may seem unusual but this verse holds the key to peace as the Lord God intended it to be from the beginning.

Psalm 85:10 says,

“Love and faithfulness meet together;

Righteousness and peace kiss each other.”

This is one of those verses that you might read over dozens of times and then, suddenly, one day it jumps off the page and just smacks you in the face! (in a good way …)

When you read this Psalm you see that it is a plea from the nation of Israel for reconciliation between them and the Yahweh, the LORD.

It is a plea for forgiveness, for mercy, for national restoration, for His presence.

Listen to Psalm 85:8-10

“I will listen to what God the Lord says; He promises peace to His people, His faithful servants - but let them not turn to folly.

“Surely His salvation is near those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land.

“Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.”

Psalm 85:10 can also be extended to individuals as well as nations or groups of people.

First we must see what is meant by the terms in this verse:

Love -

Do you know that the word “love” is found in seven of our thirty-eight memory scriptures? And, often it is there multiple times.

This is not talking about infatuation or lust or passion or simple affection. This love is all about self-abandonment for the other’s well being.

The apostle Paul had this type of love for the nation of Israel when he said in Romans 9:1-4a

“I speak the truth in Christ - I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit - I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel.”

And we see that Paul’s love for Israel was only a reflection of God’s love for us demonstrated in John 3:16a - “For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son …”

So, when we look at the word “love” in Psalm 85:10 that is the type of love it is speaking about.