Well, looky here, I’m back in the ol’ blogging world. Yeah, it’s been a hot minute, with a few abandoned blogs (see www.runningforthehills2009.blogspot.com and www.stillnotayankeefan.blogspot.com) along the way, and one that never really got off the ground at all (see www.thisisstatenisland.com), but lately, God’s just been teaching me so much and I really want to write about it. I’m a writer at heart, but the past few years, the only place I’ve been writing is in the stacks and stacks of journals in my dresser drawers (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Plus, I’ve been meaning to buy the janellsimmons.com domain for a while, so now felt like as good a time as any. I haven’t even decided yet when I will share this, or even if I will at all. We’ll see.
I won’t bore you with a bunch of background information. I’m not trying to be some viral blogging sensation so if you’re reading this, you probably know me. I wish I could tell you what this blog will be like, but I don’t know yet. Probably a good mix of my social justice rants, crazy New York stories, and whatever the Lord is wrecking me with at the moment. Which is where I find myself today…
Earlier this year, after reading Tim Keller’s really incredible book on prayer, I decided to add the Psalms to my time in the word. So every day, in addition to whatever else I’m reading, I read through 5 psalms. It’s so good for lots of reasons (and I love talking about this so if you want to know more, feel free to hit me up offline but be prepared for me to talk your ear off, haha.), and now that I’m basically reading through the entirety of the psalms every month, I’m picking up on a lot of themes that I didn’t really notice before.
When God repeats something in the scripture, it’s never just for kicks. One of the phrases/themes that is repeated a ridiculous amount of times in the psalms is the “steadfast love” of the Lord. Seriously, Psalm 136 alone repeats the phrase “his steadfast love endures forever” in all 26 verses. So I knew it was important, but what does “steadfast” really mean anyway?
I asked God to show me why it was so important. And today he did. I started reading through Exodus last week and today my reading took me to Exodus 12-14 and Psalm 76-80. Psalm 78 is actually about the Israelites during the Exodus, which was pretty providential in and of itself, but it is also the most beautiful and heart-wrenching definition of steadfast he could have ever shown me. I’ve read Psalm 78 before, but maybe reading it alongside the account of the Israelites in Exodus made it more clear. Anyhow, here’s a little snippet of what it says (but I encourage you to read the whole chapter):
34 When he killed them, they sought him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouths;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate,atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that passes and comes not again.
Psalm 78:34-39 (emphasis mine)
Let Go, My Soul 