My young nephew corrected me after I commented on something I thought was ridiculous. He told me, Uncle Dave, we don’t say the s-word.

I thought the s-word I shouldn’t say around him was sh*t, but turns out the offending s-word was stupid. Being a good uncle I complied, choosing to substitute ludicrous, moronic, and idiotic—both making my point and improving his vocabulary.

To my surprise I found the psalmist called someone stupid. How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep! The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this. For though the wicked sprout like grass and the evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever.

In various places in scripture I’m reminded how nature reveals the Lord’s work. Most everyone I know, when standing under a vast, starlit sky on an inky dark night, sense something grander than themselves. But not everyone. Some people refuse to acknowledge the Most High.

The opposite of stupid exists. The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon…they still bear fruit in their old age; they are ever full of sap and green. Full of sap—ready to burst—filled with life and energy. The way of the Lord yields ample fruit and generous living.

Don’t choose stupid. In fact, call it out, even if you use different words for young ears. The problem, of course, isn’t speaking the word stupid, it’s living a life of stupid. May the Lord point stupid out in my life as well, so that I enjoy a life green and full of sap.

Psalm 92 in week forty seven of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Oskari Manninen