Psalm 119:162 – Rejoicing

I rejoice over your word
as someone who finds great treasure.

I recall a small kitten who showed up at our house. She had apparently lost her mother. She was crying pitifully. When I picked her up and took her in she settled in happily. She had found a place to be safe. I have no idea how she knew I’d take care of her, but she did. I, in turn, was delighted to help this delightful little bundle of fur and life, and was able to find a home for her.

The rescue, was a time of joy for us both.

I’m reminded of the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7), followed by the lost coin and the lost son. There’s an important point in theses stories. There is seeking going on even when the person or thing sought is in no way doing any seeking. There is great joy in heaven, we are told (Luke 15:10) over one sinner who repents.

In the similar parable of the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45), we have someone seeking, finding, and acquiring. There’s joy!

When I was younger, I was taught that this was about how diligently we should seek the kingdom of heaven and what we should be willing to give up to get it. In this version of the parable, the kingdom of God is a sort of acquisition, or at least something I invest in because it seems to be a good idea.

But the kingdom of heaven is both already there and is not something you can acquire. In fact, it is the kingdom (or its King!) that is looking for you, often when you’re not thinking about it at all. The one seeking the pearl is the King, and the King want’s to acquire you!

I was reminded recently about how I came to join Pine Forest United Methodist Church (now Wilde Lake Church) here in Pensacola. I was not, in fact, looking for a church. I was not invited by someone to go to this church. It was, to all appearances, an accident. I was following the suggestion of my business partner to do something that wasn’t work. I chose that church because I could figure out how to get there, and they had a Sunday night service.

Every single thing about that visit had the appearance of an accident. I was definitely not seeking God. I was just following a suggested plan of looking at how various churches worked to distract me from my coding work.

Yet God and I had an encounter at that church.

There was joy, I’m sure, in heaven. I, on the other hand, reacted with joy. I began to rejoice again in God’s Word, which had not excited me for some time. God’s rejoicing brought my rejoicing.

I feel this verse with the Psalmist. It’s not my doing, yet I rejoice. I came upon treasure for which I was not looking.

I was reading a quote from John Wesley in another context today, describing “preventing grace,” more commonly known as prevenient grace.

Salvation begins with what is usually termed (and very properly) preventing grace; including the first wish to please God, the first dawn of light concerning his will, and the first slight transient conviction of having sinned against him. All these imply some tendency toward life; some degree of salvation; the beginning of a deliverance from a blind, unfeeling heart, quite insensible of God and the things of God.

John Wesley, “On Working Out Our Own Salvation”

What treasure will give you joy today?

(Featured image generated by Jetpack AI. That’s quite some images the AI picked out of this post. Don’t you think the kitten looks joyful?)