The Dust of Hope

S

(Psalm 102:14) For Your servants hold her [Zion's] stones dear and have pity on her dust.

O

Scholars usually see this psalm as having been written by one who was observing or remembering the destruction of the Temple. The stones that once easily evidenced God's beauty and goodness and glory were now broken and discarded in hideous piles, covered with the dust of disuse. But love resists abandonment. Love ("holding dear" and "pitying") creates value and purpose. And God's love makes possible the rebuilding of glory.

A

I, too, can look with despair on the damage that sin delivers, even upon the people who once magnificently displayed God's glory. I choose, instead of joining the haters and mockers, to hold dear these once-living souls. I choose to become a "living stone" that Jesus uses to build His spiritual home (1 Peter 2:5) even though I, too, was once discarded, useless dust (Matthew 27:7; Jeremiah 18:1-10; Matthew 16:13-27).

P

Dear Creator and Lord, You see order and design where I see chaos. I fear that often You find vanity in what I value, and purpose in what I find disgusting. Help me to set my heart aright so I align with the good You are doing. Help me to hold dear what You value, to pity what You pity--give me a "whosoever" heart that aches for the wholeness of others.