A Reflection on Psalm 37, Deuteronomy 7, Titus 1, and John 1
A Note from the Curious Pilgrim
As I have grown older in my faith journey, I have learned that reading Scripture is not always about having the right answers. Sometimes it is about learning to ask better questions while continuing to walk in trust with God. The Daily Office readings often bring comfort, but they also raise difficult passages that deserve honest reflection.
In today’s readings, Psalm 37 invites us to “fret not,” while Deuteronomy speaks of Israel as God’s chosen people. Over the years I have wrestled with what that word “chosen” really means and how it fits with the teachings of Jesus, who proclaimed God’s love for the whole world.
What follows is not an argument, but a reflection from a pilgrim still learning to see Scripture through the lens of grace, humility, and the life of Christ.
“Fret Not”
The Daily Office readings today stirred both comfort and reflection in my heart.
Psalm 37 begins with a phrase repeated several times:
“Fret not.”
The psalmist seems to understand how easily we become anxious when we see injustice, corruption, or hypocrisy in the world. The writer answers that anxiety with simple spiritual wisdom:
Trust in the Lord.
Commit your way to the Lord.
Be still before the Lord.
Fret not.
“Faith is not always about solving every question. Sometimes it is about learning to trust God in the middle of them.”
Those words become especially meaningful when we encounter passages of Scripture that raise difficult questions.
Wrestling with the Word “Chosen”
One such passage appears in today’s reading from Deuteronomy 7:6:
“The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his treasured possession.”
Many Christians have long interpreted this to mean that Israel was uniquely favored by God above all other people. Growing up, I often heard that Israel was God’s chosen nation and that the rest of the world was later grafted into God’s family through Jesus.
But over the years I began to wrestle with that interpretation.
If God created all people, and if Jesus tells us that “God so loved the world,” then it becomes difficult to believe that God treasures one people more than another.
When Scripture is read strictly and literally, however, the language of being “chosen” can easily sound that way.
Chosen as Channel
Over time I have come to understand the word chosen differently.
Instead of meaning favored above others, I believe it points to something else: being chosen as a channel.
Throughout the biblical story, God often works through particular people so that blessing can reach many others.
Abraham was chosen so that all nations would be blessed through him.
Prophets were chosen to speak truth to their communities.
Mary was chosen to bear the Christ.
Being chosen did not mean that God loved them more than anyone else. It meant they were given a role in the story.
“Channels are not the source. The source is always God.”
In this sense, Israel served as a channel through which humanity came to know God.
When the Channel Becomes Blocked
The problem arises when being chosen is interpreted as superiority.
History shows how easily religious language can be misused to justify domination, exclusion, and injustice. Ideas of divine favoritism have been used to defend colonial conquest, the destruction of Native American cultures, segregation, and even white supremacist movements.
Whenever human beings begin to believe that God treasures them more than others, humility disappears and injustice soon follows.
“Whenever any people believe they are treasured more than others, the channel begins to close.”
For much of my life I have tried to gently challenge these misunderstandings among friends who read Scripture very literally. My hope has never been to attack faith, but to invite a deeper and more compassionate reading of the biblical story.
Why Jesus Came
By the time Jesus arrived, the religious life of Israel had become heavily institutionalized.
The living faith that once connected people to God had become entangled in systems of authority and religious control. Rules multiplied, traditions hardened, and access to God often seemed mediated through religious leaders.
Jesus challenged this system repeatedly.
He healed on the Sabbath.
He welcomed sinners and outsiders.
He spoke with Samaritans.
He confronted religious leaders who burdened others with rules while protecting their own power.
Sometimes it seems to me that Jesus came not to destroy faith, but to clear the channel again.
“Jesus did not come to build walls around God. He came to open the door.”
He reminded people that God was not confined within institutions.
God was already near.
The Same Temptation Today
If we are honest, the same temptation exists within Christianity today.
Church institutions can become so focused on preserving themselves that they unintentionally block the very grace they were meant to share.
Rules replace compassion.
Power replaces service.
Certainty replaces humility.
When that happens, seekers may feel pushed away rather than drawn toward God.
But the teachings of Jesus continue to call us back to something simpler:
Love God.
Love your neighbor.
Show mercy.
Walk humbly.
Returning to Psalm 37
This is why Psalm 37 speaks so powerfully to me.
When religion becomes confusing and institutions seem tangled in power or politics, the psalmist quietly reminds us:
Fret not.
Trust God.
Do good.
Be still.
“God does not depend on institutions to reach people. God has always spoken through unexpected voices and unlikely pilgrims.”
A Personal Reflection
Over a lifetime of faith, my understanding of God has continued to grow.
From the Free Baptists I learned to love Scripture.
From the Nazarenes I learned about holiness and discipleship.
From the Methodists I learned that truth can come through Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience.
From the Episcopal Church I learned the quiet discipline of prayer and contemplation.
Each of these traditions has served as a channel in my life.
But none of them is the source.
The source is the God revealed in Jesus — a God whose love reaches beyond tribe, nation, denomination, or institution.
That is the God I trust.
So when questions arise and interpretations differ, I return again to the gentle wisdom of the psalmist:
Fret not.
Trust in the Lord.
Be still.
Prayer
Gracious God,
You are the creator of all people and the source of all truth.
When our traditions become rigid and our interpretations divide us, help us return to the spirit of Christ — the one who welcomed the outsider and revealed your boundless love.
Make us humble channels of your grace in the world.
Teach us to trust you, to do good, and to fret not.
Amen.
Perhaps the work of faith is not proving we are chosen, but learning how to become humble channels of the love God already has for the whole world. Like every pilgrim before me, I walk the road still learning that the grace of God is wider than our doctrines and deeper than our fears.
The Curious Pilgrim 
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