Neglected

I delight in Your decrees;

I will not neglect Your word.

Psalm 119:16

When Hurricane Irene came roaring through last month, it took down a half of a large tree in our neighborhood.  Fortunately, it crashed down beside the house, rather than on it.  The police cut off the portion of tree that fell into the road, but the rest of it covered the front and side of the yard.  The home was unoccupied, and no one in the neighborhood seemed to know the status of the property, as the former tenants moved out in the middle of the night a few months ago.  The grass in the front yard was almost a foot tall, liberally decorated with storm debris.  Eventually, calls were made to the county alerting them to the situation.

On Wednesday of last week, I was pleased to discover two men and a woman, a huge trailer, and several chain saws at work on the fallen tree.  The lawn on the right side of the front sidewalk had been neatly mowed, and the overall work was progressing nicely.  Thursday morning most of the tree was cut into manageable pieces, and the lawnmower was sitting in the left portion of the yard.  Thursday evening after work, I slowed down to take a look at the finished product.  All remnants of the tree were gone, but the yard was another matter altogether.  Perhaps the lawn mower had given up the ghost at the thought of plowing through more foot tall grass, but most of the left side of the yard and the entire ditch area along the roadside was untouched by a blade – leaving the home still looking empty, unloved and neglected.

Calamity has a way of shattering the landscape of our hearts and lives as well as our physical homes.  Picking up the pieces can be a long and arduous process, often bringing more discouragement than joy.  The author of Psalm 119 has seen his fair share of heartache and trouble, but he has chosen to anchor his life in the sure foundation of the Word of God.   In our verse for today, the psalmist vows that he will not neglect the scriptures, but delight in them, for they are “…a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”