Psalm 55 verse 16 (NIV)
As for me, I call to God,
and the LORD saves me.
Joshua chapter 24 verse 15 (NIV)
“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Both of these verses echo similar experience even although there is about 400 years between Joshua’s time and David’s. David, prior to this verse in psalm 55 was describing how those who opposed him, and lived for their own success at the expense of others, behaved. In his turn, now, at the end of a long life, committed and obedient to God, Joshua was exhorting the people of Israel to continue to live in obedience to God’s commands now that they had successfully settled in the promised land. There are three words which link these two verses together – “as for me…”
As a child growing up if my parents denied permission for me to do something I wanted to do, I would sometimes complain that, “well so-and-so is allowed to do that, or “so-and-so’s mum says its OK.” In return my mum would respond that it didn’t matter what anyone else was doing, and reiterate why she felt I should not. As she got older, my mum grew a bit more mellow, and in response to discussions about issues of the day, that may be drastically different to when she was young, she would often say, “Ah well, that’s the way of the world.” After one such discussion, in a bit of a role reversal, I recall saying, that it may well be, but that it was not the way that God intended for us.
In David and Joshua’s cases here, they were being very clear that they were choosing to go God’s way, even if it went against popular opinion. After all, as I was told as a girl, just because everyone else is doing something, or accepting of it, doesn’t make it right in God’s eyes. It’s very easy, particularly for young people, to be swayed by the opinions of others. But those of us who are more mature in the faith need to set them, and those who are new Christians, the same example that we see here from both David and Joshua. As for me, I choose to do what God requires me to, even if it flies in the face of the majority or popular opinion.
Dear Lord,
Thank you for the example set by both these men who lived many years apart. Your ways are as unchanged today as they were in the time of Joshua and David, so help me to echo their words as an example to those who come after me. As for me, I will serve the Lord. I ask for the grace and courage to do so in Jesus’ Name. Amen.