Psalm 119:19 Stranger for God

I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me.

Psalm 119:19

Some days I feel more like a stranger on this earth than I do on other days.

The one day of the week I generally don't feel like a complete stranger on earth is Monday. That's the day Karen and I get to go to a women's prison and share worship, teaching, discussion, and counseling with a chapel full of convicted criminals.

Karen gleefully calls it her "happy place," a statement that causes the prisoners to just shake their heads. Some of them roll their eyes.

Oh sure, we hear some stories there that shock us, make us shudder, and even cause us to weep.

But it really is our happy place, and the one place all week where we feel like we fit in.

Don't you dare roll your eyes at me. It's true.

That prison chapel is the one place I can always count on people to not be deluding themselves about how good they are. In that place, we're all sinners, all bowing at the feet of the God of holiness, crying out for mercy. We cling to the commands of God as lifebuoys and boundary markers, rescuing us and protecting us from our worst selves.


Monday evenings in prison help me deal with the almost overwhelming feeling of being a stranger during the rest of the week out in the "free" world.

When I encounter co-workers, friends, and total strangers whose daily lives are filled with chasing after shockingly unwholesome desires, my temptation is to lead with "wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it" (Matthew 7:13).

But, as true as that verse is, my Mondays have taught me to lead with the equally true "there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

That's right. We're all on that same broad road, and we're all in need of mercy. Perhaps the people in my life need me to interact with them as someone who shares our predicament and our common need for grace.

Dear Lord, this world is strange. Help me to see all your commandments, and to not ignore the ones that bring us together as fellow sojourners and seekers.