Verse of the Day for December 8

The pictures in verse two move fast. Smoke blown off by wind. Wax going soft by the fire. Things that looked solid a moment ago simply are not there anymore.

Then the turn: But let the righteous be glad. The same presence that melts wax makes the righteous glad. It is not a different God for different people. It is one God, and what you are made of decides how his nearness feels.

Confusion is often a kind of smoke. Fears, rumours, a dozen voices in the family group chat, all hanging in the air so you cannot see the way. The psalm suggests that clarity does not come from staring harder into the smoke. It comes when God arrives and the smoke is driven off.

Verse four gives him a short name, JAH. It is the name we still carry inside the word hallelujah. When everything is foggy, sometimes the shortest prayer is the best one: his name, said plainly.

Before you make the decision you have been circling, stop. Sing something, even under your breath in the corridor. rejoice before him, and let him do the clearing.

Clarity often comes after worship, not before it.

One name said plainly can clear a crowded mind.