1495) Psychology and why people do the things they do, fascinate me. When I travel in airports, I sit back and watch people, trying to guess why they are doing and saying what I witness. Am I always right? How would I know? My guess is not always. Maybe never.

We all know in our heads that we cannot possibly know what people are thinking and why they do the things they do, but we often convince ourselves that we can. It may even be something we do when we think of God. Do we make assumptions about what God’s thoughts and reactions are? I know I do.

If we read Psalm 68:1-2 and read no more, it’s easy to assume God is looking for times when he can “get” someone for whatever they are doing wrong. Have you known anyone who is like this? If you have, you may unknowingly project the same behavior onto God by reading only Psalm 68:1-2. However, if you read verses 3-4, you will discover that God is also described as the source of joy who enjoys filling his children with it. Projecting only this side of God is equally incorrect.

Projecting our views on God and others doesn’t work very well. Perhaps a better way to live is to take God and people for who they are.