Allegiance

jIH 'oH vIHHa' voqtaHqu' vo' vam: jIH DichDaq legh the QaQ vo' joH'a' Daq the puH vo' the yIntaH.

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

(Psalm 27: 13)

podcast

Where do you live? Or, more specifically, to whom do you owe your allegiance? Allegiance, what the American Heritage Dictionary calls "Loyalty or the obligation of loyalty, as to a nation, sovereign, or cause," is something you can choose to give. Who has yours?

Anyone who knows the history of Lt. Worf and his career on the Enterprise, as well as later on Deep Space Nine, can see the problem of loyalty being divided. A Klingon, raised and educated by humans, Worf always had to face people who questioned where his loyalty, where his allegiance was placed.

But it is a question for all of us - to whom do you owe your allegiance?

Here, almost at the very end of Psalm 27, we hear David confidently say he will see God's goodness, puH vo' the yIntaH, in the land of the living.

Now it is obvious, when David says the eretz hayim,“land of the living," he is talking about “this life.” Despite being in the middle of problems (look back over the text of Psalm 27) he was sure that in this present life, God would see him through it. Yet, I think there is a statement of allegiance here - a trust too - that David's home is "the land of the living." It can be ours too.

Faced with a challenge about survival beyond death, Jesus said:

haven't you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?' God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." (Matthew 22: 31b,32)

Believers may say this too - by putting our allegiance with this great God and - to trust that God will bless us in the land of the living. No - it doesn't mean everything will be perfect, all ills healed or that all material prosperity will be ours. But trusting this God means our life, our living, will never really end.

Worf, David, you and I need to choose every day who gets our loyalty, what our heart's homeland really is. If we accept the limits of this world, of no more future or survival than the grave, then we're not pledging our allegiance to the land of the living.

The Life Application Bible notes:

God doesn’t force his will on anyone. He lets us decide whether to follow him or reject him. This decision, however, is a life-or-death matter. God wants us to realize this, for he would like us all to choose life.

As Moses said:

Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live! (Deuteronomy 30:19)