Our Environment Matters

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The people that surround us, the context we live in and the things that influence us matter. Our environment matters. The decisions we make, the direction we take and the goals we pursue are important because they shape our environment and will determine our future. To a large extent, we are the CEOs of our lives. There are certain things outside our control, yet many things are within our control. Not everything that happens to us can be controlled, but how we respond can. Life has its many challenges, but there is an important prayer we can pray: a prayer for God's presence. He is a hiding place, not in the sense that we hide from life and shut ourselves away indefinitely, but in the sense that we can be surrounded by God's lovingkindness and goodness and sing songs of deliverance or salvation. These are the two things David wrote about in Psalm 32 that surround us (vv 7, 10) when we make God our refuge in trust towards Him. When our environment is saturated with God's presence, our lives become meaningful and beautiful, and we have the Ruler of the universe near us. We are not to escape from the world, but be light and salt in the world (Matthew 5:13-16; John 1715-19; Philippians 2:15-16). We are to overcome the struggles and challenges of life and help others do so. Here is some input how this might look like.

 

 

Taking Responsibility for our Lives and Decisions

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Life is the sum of the things that happen to us (where we grow up, who we are etc) and how we respond to them (what we do with our lives, who we become etc). The first steps in life are to accept certain realities (what we cannot change) and take responsibility for our lives and decisions (what we can change). Wishful thinking about what should've been or complaining over what didn't occur are no good strategies for life. There is a school of thought that blames society (the environment) for all the evils and seeks to change it (often with political overreach). And there is a school of thought that is concerned with the individual and the flaws we carry that account for the things that are wrong. This philosophy seeks to take individual responsibility for one's life and change internally without (or little) complaining as a victim about the world. The human condition is such that we need to attend to it. We are fearfully and wonderfully made in God's image (Psalm 139:14; E22), yet there is also sin at work in us (see more under 'The Human Condition' in A4 and in The Gospel & the Meaning of Life in A11). Taking responsibility for our lives and decisions is crucial.

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David starts Psalm 32 with a twofold confession: the blessing of having one's sins forgiven (God's goodness) and the negative effects on his life by trying to hide or justify sins (human responsibility). There is a blessing in having one's sins forgiven and living without deceit in one's heart (vv 1-2). Honesty before God and towards ourselves is a good strategy and an expression of taking responsibility in life. God doesn't want to condemn us for our sins; He wants to forgive and restore us. Those who try to conceal their sins won't prosper, but confessing one's sins and turning away from the wrong things in life will lead to success (Proverbs 28:13). Life is both about doing the right thing and not doing the wrong thing. If we deny that we have flaws and weaknesses, we are fooling ourselves. An honest apology can go a long way. Repenting before God will bring mercy and blessing into our lives (1 John 1:8—2:2; see A7). David knew this and Paul quoted the words of David in one of his letters (Romans 4:7-8), pointing out how David saw God's forgiveness as a blessing (v 6).

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Contrasting the blessing of God through forgiveness with dishonesty, David also wrote of the self-inflicted trouble if we try to hide our sins and cover our flaws. Our conscience weighs us down when we refuse to be honest with ourselves and towards God. David describes these realities in poetic manner (see Psalm 32:3-4). His conclusion, most importantly, was that this way of existence is unbearable, and he decided to acknowledge his sin and confess his transgressions (v 5). David wrote more extensively about true repentance in Psalm 51 (see E31). In Psalm 32, David took responsibility for his own shortcomings and did what was necessary to change his presence reality: confession and repentance before God. We do have the power of change our lives and it starts with acknowledging what doesn't work and start doing what does work. This is taking responsibility for our lives and decisions, rather than blaming others and society in the victim role. Playing the complaining victim makes people resentful and their lives miserable. People around them get fed up with this behaviour and start avoiding their company. The blessing is in honesty, responsibility and wisdom. People might get some short-term benefit from lying about their transgressions, yet in the long-term, peace of mind comes only through honesty and doing what is right. 

 

This is the godly attitude David wrote of (v 6), a purity without deceit in one's heart (v 2), that is necessary to pray to God in a genuine manner. We cannot fool God. He knows all things. God is a hiding place for the upright and the 'flood of great waters' (overwhelming problems) can be avoided (v 6). When we make God our hiding place through honest confession, genuine repentance and sincere trust, our environment changes: 'You [God] surround me with songs of deliverance' (v 7). It doesn't mean all our troubles will subside; but it does mean that what surrounds us is empowering—God's presence. David's prayer was essentially for God's presence to surround him. God can and does 'preserve us from trouble,' but we still live in a fallen, corrupt world with challenges and the wrongdoings of others that affect us. Yet the difference is that God surrounds us and we can sing songs of deliverance and salvation—the triumph of God over evil.​

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