Psalm 95:7-9–For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.  Today, if you hear his voice,8  do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

If you think about the times you have been disappointed or offended by someone’s actions you care for, there are usually many “layers” of what is implied in those words used or actions done.  That what has been said or done is a major part of our hurt, but the things implied about who we are to them, in those moments are what lingers…

The closer we are to a person, the more we should desire for them to respect who we are, our character, personality, etc.  That disappointment or grief in those things lacking in a relationship, leads to a distrust (hardness) to who I am.  That what I have proven to be in your eyes, is not enough to trust and want to grow into deeper intimacy with.  Yet the only way a person changes the way they see us, is if their heart changes towards us, something we cannot control, but God can.(Proverbs 21:1)

The Psalmist records a passage that later is used in “Hebrews”, describing the kind of heart we are not to have towards the Lord.  That as much as we desire to be respected, loved, and appreciated for what we have done, the Lord warns us of the same towards Him.  That we all have defenses, as to why we deserve respect and love from those we care for.  But when those we love distrust us, even with our “proofs” of good towards them, the hurt is much worse…(Hebrews 3:8-13)

We can become very “myopic” or so self-centered as to how we want to be treated, that we can fail to recognize how we have treated God and others.  But when Christ is in view, we are sensitive instead of “hardened”, to listen and open our hearts to Him and others.  This makes mercy and patience for others become a supreme reality to strive for, now that we see how patient He is being with us…(1 Timothy 1:16)

One of the greatest things that true worship of Jesus brings, is order and perspective.  Because if I have my priorities in order, I can rightly assess how everything else should be.  So if I am seeing Jesus “high and lifted up”, than I see how I should be treating Him, as opposed to worrying about how everyone is treating me. Worship was to always remind Israel, as to who really was keeping and providing for them whatever they needed. (Isaiah 6:1-7, Philippians 4:19)

In His Love, Ld