Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalm 34:5-9 (New Living Translation)

5 Why should I fear when trouble comes,
when enemies surround me?
6 They trust in their wealth
and boast of great riches.
7 Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death
by paying a ransom to God.
8 Redemption does not come so easily,
for no one can ever pay enough
9 to live forever
and never see the grave.

This section from a Psalm describes the immeasurable saving grace of God. Enemies surround the writer. Those enemies are rich—I mean really rich and rich and rich.

Trouble is, they don’t have enough money to pay the ransom we all owe to God. They don’t have enough money to redeem themselves. Redeeming doesn’t come so cheap and easy. No one (Bezos, Musk, Gates, no one) has enough money to buy a ticket to heaven. No one attends “church” enough to buy a ticket to heaven. No one… well, the list goes on and on to include all sorts of things we consider sufficient.

We don’t have it in this world to live forever and never see the grave. That comes as a gift for believing in God and accepting God’s forgiveness and grace.

Simple. Not easy to comprehend. Not easy to believe whole-hardheartedly. Please God, help me in my unbelief.