“SUBDUING SUPERFICIALITY”
(Psalms 92:1-15; 93:1-5; 94:1-23)
How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep! – Psalm 92:5
Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus daily let me go;
higher, higher in the school of wisdom, more of grace to know.
– Hymn “Deeper, Deeper” Charles Price Jones, 1900.
In Richard Foster’s book on the spiritual disciplines, Celebration of Discipline, he opens the book by describing something he believes undermines the spiritual growth process: “Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.”
The Psalms do not just hand us the answer keys to life’s tests. The psalm writers invite us into their lives as we watch them ponder, reflect, travail, and wrestle with God in various ways that still rings true today. Most of us, however, would probably rather it not be this way. Our society prefers quick fixes and instant gratification: remedy the problem with a pill, have a one-night stand to deal with loneliness, go into debt rather than save for the thing you want to buy, or have AI write the term paper for you instead of doing the research and writing it yourself. In a world like this, new Christians may enter the local church with the mindset that salvation is an event, not a process. Eugene Peterson was right when he said, “One aspect of the world I have been able to identify as harmful to Christians is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once” (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, 11). Superficiality is the spirit and curse of our age.
In contrast, Psalm 92 presents God’s thoughts as deep (verse 5). To know God is to plumb the depths of his character, his being, his beauty, and his richness. The psalm goes on to describe the wicked as having their moment in the same way grass has its moment: grass flourishes for a season, but it is short-lived. In contrast, the righteous are rooted for the long-term like a tree, and they flourish over the long-term even into old age (92:12-14.) A deep God produces deep people.
Superficial relationships lack depth and are destined to be short-lived. Today’s text invites us to go deep with God the eternal God!
Application:
Many people are able to adopt certain visible Christian practices, such as Sunday worship or wearing Christian symbols, such as a cross necklace. Going deep requires practices that others are less likely to see, such as study, fasting, or solitude.
Reflection:
How can you resist the pressure to be superficial in your relationships with God and others?
Closing Prayer:
Lord, help us to resist the superficiality of our age and to seek the depths of your being. May we be rooted and flourish like trees! Take me deeper, deeper Lord I pray. Amen.
About our Author
Chris Rainey is a learning technologies manager, bi-vocational Christian minister, writer/poet, corporate trainer, and curriculum developer. Chris is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God and is a graduate of the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary with an M.Div in Christian Education and a BA in Bible from Evangel University. He is originally from Southern Illinois, but has now lived in Northern New Jersey for over 30 years. He enjoys reading, hiking, biking, swimming, watching Survivor, and the New York Mets. He resides with Marcia, his wife of over 40 years, and has three daughters and a grandson.
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