Ob1 This tidy little book speaks to me of the sin of comparison, of which I am guilty. I realise that all of v11-13's ugliness is contained in ways of comparing oneself with others, and I deceive myself that just because I don't actively indulge Schadenfreude that this is not at work. In pride, envy, jealousy & insecurity there is something that wants less than the other's best, because I want to be better, I want to put myself above them, somehow. So, by v11 sins of omission or v14 active forcefully, there is the sin of desiring another's misfortune. Envy, Klein notes, is the most distorted emotion because it hates what is goo, rather than what is bad. Pride, CSLewis tells us, is always competitive. But v3 your pride will deceive you. These ugly unkind ways are worthy of condemnation, but more than this, they are v15 one's own condemnation. They make the heart sick, leading to emptiness, inauthenticity, self-contempt. Oh I want God to v4 pull me down from my false ideas, my ugly comparative ways. Batter my heart, oh God, as Donne's, take me captive to only you, that I am free to pray with happy earnest joy for the good the best the better for others. Safe on this rock I am safe to pray that God would bless them more than me, I have everything I need.
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