Psalm Meditation 1318 ¶Proper 20 ¶September 21, 2025 ¶Psalm 31 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2031&version=NRSVUE ¶In times of trial and uncertainty we seek out a person or place of refuge. We lean in to the comfort that comes from feeling safe, if only for a moment. I imagine that most of those reading these words turn to the God of the Bible for that sense of refuge. In the comfort of God’s presence we find the time and space to reflect on how God is working in the world, as well as how we can be co-laborers in that work. Knowing that God is with us, leading and guiding us, we find the wherewithal to move courageously into the world as people of God. ¶With the assurance of the rock solid presence of God in our lives, we can face the uncertainty of the world around us, and within us. I am convinced that the opposite of faith is certainty, rather than doubt. When we are certain, we have no need for faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) The presence of God in our lives is to give us the strength and courage to move ahead without certainty, believing that whether we succeed or fail in our tasks, we are held in the steadfast love of God. ¶After the psalmist pledges to seek refuge in YHWH, there follows a recital of reasons that God will offer that place of peace. Some of the reasons are because the psalmist is seeking to be a person of God. Most of the reasons are because God has a long history of grace, goodness, trustworthiness, and steadfast love directed toward those who seek to follow the way of God and beyond. ¶September 15, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1317 ¶Proper 19 ¶September 14, 2025 ¶Psalm 21 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2021&version=NRSVUE ¶In the biblical era, the fortunes of a nation were bound up with the fortune of the ruler. This is still true in some parts of the world today. The ruler owns everything, and doles out fortune and favor for the benefit of the whole population. If the ruler is blessed with riches and long life, the whole people is more likely to benefit from these blessings. If the ruler finds joy in the presence of the LORD, the people also find joy in God, and trust in the providence and steadfast love of the LORD. ¶Royal enemies were enemies of the whole realm, and God was called upon to defeat those enemies for the sake of the ruler, the people, and in the name of the LORD. As God defeated enemies, it was believed that the LORD proved mastery over the divinities of those nations who attempted to conquer the people of the LORD. The people of the LORD sing praises for the strength and power that keeps them safe from those who wish to destroy them for any number of reasons. ¶While we continue to be influenced by those entrusted to rule over us, we do have a little more personal agency. Some are able to amass personal fortunes and wield power and influence as if they had the authority to rule over people and nations. Each of us is able to give glory to God and to live in the steadfast love that gives our lives meaning and purpose. “Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.” ¶September 9, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1316 ¶Proper 19 ¶September 7, 2025 ¶Psalm 46 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2046&version=NRSVUE ¶In these days of uncertainty and upheaval it is easy to lose hop by losing focus on what is going right. Folks with whom we disagree on politics, religion, or other big topics can talk about the weather, families, mutual friends, and past shared experience. We can see that we continue to have a meaningful connection to each other despite important differences in thinking, and acting. According to some, remembering our connections then makes it easier to talk about our disagreements without losing our friendship. ¶Uncertainty is a harbinger of change, and most of us don’t like change that we did not have a part in planning. The psalmist reminds us that we can weather change because God is with us as a refuge and strength. While not everyone believes the same things I do about God, I believe that God is with each one of us providing refuge and strength, without concern for out beliefs. That is because it is the nature of God to be present rather than being present only with those who believe. ¶To those who comment on the number of problems for which followers of God have been responsible, the psalmists points out the number of desolations God has brought upon the earth; wars cease, weapons of war are broken, shields are burned to nothing. Any who perpetuate these things are not of God, despite protestations to the contrary. ““Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations; I am exalted in the earth.” ¶September 1, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1315 ¶Proper 17 ¶August 31, 2025 ¶Psalm 41 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2041&version=NRSVUE ¶I am not sure that ‘Happy’ is the best translation for the first word of this psalm. The people I know who consider the poor are not usually happy about what they find. They find people who are dishonored, disrespected, made to feel invisible just to name a few. Those who consider the poor have to contend with those who believe that poverty is a sign of laziness, a choice if you will. If not a choice, it is a punishment for some sin of those in poverty, rather than those who really are the cause of the poverty; the greedy and selfish among us. ¶A better word is blessed. To be blessed is to be honored by God. Those who consider the poor are doing the work that God calls each of us to do. That often means being scorned by those who blame the poor for their poverty. In some cases it means becoming a target for that same scorn. It is as if helping people out of poverty means that there will be less for ‘me’ as ‘those people’ take too much for themselves as ‘I’ have always done. However, God gives courage and wholeness to those who do the work of God. ¶Martin Luther King Jr said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." We are called to be active in participating in that arcing of the moral universe as we do what we can to eliminate the impediments to justice that continually rise to confront us. As we serve the of steadfast love, we make it possible for the poor, the weak to stand and rise by their own courage and power. ¶August 25, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1314 ¶Proper 16 ¶August 24, 2025 ¶Psalm 36 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2036&version=NRSVUE ¶The reason sin/transgression is so commonplace is that it is such an easy path to take. When I was in band in junior high school, I wanted to play like Al Hurt, Herb Alpert, or Louis Armstrong. The difficulty is that I did not want to put in the hours and hours of practice. The most attractive route was to wish I could play well without having to practice. In “The Music Man” this is called the think method. Harold Hill is the con man who convinces enough people that this system works that he makes a pile of money and plans to disappear at the earliest possible moment before the con is discovered. ¶When we get caught up in a con like this, that there is an easy way to do something difficult, we either double down in a way that showcases our gullibility to everyone else or we crumple into some form of hopelessness. ‘My team got cheated by your team,’ ‘we just need a little more time to prove ourselves right,’ since it isn’t me it must be all of you who are doing the terrible things we all know are happening around us,’ ‘you keep telling me it is bad but it is just what I have always wanted.’ ¶The psalmist then spends just over half of the psalm lifting up the steadfast love of God, as a reminder that whether we accept it or not God loves us. When we know we have sinned and confess that sin, God loves us. When we reject the notion that we have sinned, God loves us. When we can’t believe that God could possibly love us, God loves us. The love of God does not depend on our willingness to be loved, it depends on God loving us because it is the chosen nature of God to love us. ¶August 18, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1313 ¶Proper 15 ¶August 17, 2025 ¶Psalm 32 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2032&version=NRSVUE ¶The extremes of forgiven people are those who are humbled by the grace of the one who haw forgiven, and those who become cocky, knowing they can do it all again because they now have a clean slate. Both are happy, in a dictionary definition kind of way. The first group is set free from the guilt and shame of having wronged someone by having been forgiven. The other group gets smug about having been forgiven for something that probably wasn’t their fault in the first place to their way of thinking. ¶Sin does take a toll on us, whether we realize it or not. It makes us hard, and impenetrable as we build walls to protect ourselves from the painful realization that we are not the people we want to be. When we acknowledge our sin, own up to it ourselves, and confess it to someone, we find that we can soften our defenses and become the people we want to be. Especially when we can confess to the one we have wronged and received their forgiveness, we are able to have the weight of our sin lifted. ¶God is one of those who can forgive before we ask, because it is the nature of God to be loving and forgiven. The task before us in our relationship with God is to accept and receive the forgiveness that God so graciously offers. We may think we don’t deserve it, and maybe we don’t. However, God is ready and willing to forgive us. We do still have to suffer any consequences of our actions, however we face them knowing that we have been forgiven by God. ¶August 11, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1312 ¶Proper 14 ¶August 10, 2025 ¶Psalm 28 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2028&version=NRSVUE ¶When all you are used to in a ruler is one who uses power and authority as a weapon against everyone, including citizens of the nation, it is important to plead for a hearing in a time of need. That is the world of the psalmist. When addressing God, it is seen as no different than addressing a moody, belligerent ruler. Every request holds the possibility of being dragged away to some form of punishment, including banishment or death as well as receiving a favorable response. ¶The psalmist is pleasantly surprised that God has granted the request to be treated well, especially better than those who are out to ruin the psalmist’s life. There are many blessings and thanksgivings heaped on God for hearing and responding to the cry for help. Assuming that David is the psalmist in this case, he calls on the people of his realm to join in giving thanks and praise to God for being such a strong refuge in this situation, as well as all the times in the past in which God has been the strength and shield of the nation. ¶Through the years we have developed a different understanding of how God works in our lives. God is radically different than a capricious strong armed ruler. God is one who loves us beyond measure, who is present with us in every time and place, and encourages us to love all those around us with a love approaching that which we receive from God. ¶August 4, 2025 ¶LCM