Psalm Meditation 1245 ¶Fifth Sunday of Easter ¶April 28, 2024 ¶Psalm 129 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+129&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶One of the best ways to deal with an enemy is to depersonalize and dehumanize them. If they aren’t even human, let alone individual persons, we can hate them and kill them without a second thought. We are ‘us’ and they are ‘other.’ We can also project any unpleasant behaviors of ours onto them, which makes them more grotesque and scary, thus more necessary to sweep out of our lives as completely and as soon as possible. And because they are so evil and inhuman, we are actually doing them a favor by taking them out of the world in which we live. ¶The psalmist is dealing with an adversary who sees the chosen people of God as people to be destroyed, wiped from the earth completely. Fortunately, the psalmist’s people are not without protection. They call on YHWH to turn their enemies away at the border, to put them to shame for not being able to accomplish the objective or conquering and annihilating the people of Zion. In addition to their shame, let them wither and die like grass, and be left where they have died, like a bad crop of grain. ¶We still dehumanize and depersonalize our enemies. We still project our own evil onto them to make them even more unacceptable to ‘nice’ people like us. However, God, YHWH, continues to call us to see each person as being of sacred worth. We can hope for and pray for their destruction in the most violent way we can imagine, as long as we recognize that God is not going to act on our fantasies and imaginings. Our God is a God of steadfast love and mercy for each and all of us, no matter who, no matter what. ¶April 22, 2024 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1244 ¶Fourth Sunday of Easter ¶April 21, 2024 ¶Psalm 122 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+122&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶I hope you have a place that feels like home for you. It may be the place where you currently live, a place that you visit with some regularity, a place that you hold in your heart, real or imagined, or some combination of these choices. It is a place of firmly packed memories in which all the experiences of that place burst out each time the place comes to mind. At best, I hope that the place reminds you of the presence of God, in that place, and in every instance of calling that place to mind. ¶For the psalmist that place is Jerusalem. There is nothing better than to go there along with all the other people who hold that place dear. It is a place that feels like home, a place that brings a sense of peace even when there appears to be a lack of peace everywhere, including Jerusalem. Even the presence of ‘the thrones of judgment’ make the psalmist feel loved, cared for, and cared about. If there is peace in Jerusalem, the psalmist can find God’s peace in every place and time. ¶Whether your home is Jerusalem, Disneyworld, your actual residence, or some longed for place held in heart and memory may it be a place of peace and security for you and those you love. May the presence of God fill you as you enter each place you call home so that you may be at peace while there and each time you leave. “Peace be within your walls and security within your towers.” For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.” ¶April 15, 2024 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1243 ¶Third Sunday of Easter ¶April 14, 2024 ¶Psalm 115 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+115&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶My prayer as I begin writing a psalm meditation is, ‘Let my words be your word, for at least one other person.’ Today, that prayer brought me to a sticking place that made it impossible to write anything. After sitting here at the computer for an hour, I realized that a better prayer is, ‘Use my faltering words to open someone to receive a word from you.’ It is a small difference in wording, yet a huge difference in my attitude. God does have a way of using what we offer to do what needs to be done in the lives of others. ¶The psalmist invites God to act for divine glory rather than the glory of the chosen people. While there is some benefit for us, the real benefit is to God, as other peoples/nations recognize that our God is present and active in the life of the nation. All those other folks worship idols, who are nothing more than silver and gold. Though it is a misinterpretation of the significance of an idol, it is an important point, that it is not a good idea to believe that our God, YHWH, can be easily influenced by going through a particular set of motions. ¶The important part of our relationship with God, is the steadfast love and faithfulness that is part and parcel of what we are offered by God. The fact that God loves us beyond measure and is faithful to us no matter what if the core of our life in God. Yes, we have rules, liturgies, and other methods of staying in touch with God, the important part is knowing that we are loved, and God appreciates but does not demand our love in return. “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.“ ¶April 8, 2024 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1242 ¶Second Sunday of Easter ¶April 7, 2024 ¶Psalm 108 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+108&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶While we are grateful to receive God’s promises, we can get impatient with the timing and the method of their fulfillment. When God promises to be with us always, we are grateful. When God does not live out that promise to our satisfaction, we are apt to see it as a failure of the promise rather than a failure of our expectations. A colleague related an experience of having lunch with a mentor of his. When my friend complained that there was never enough dipping sauce for his chicken nuggets his lunch partner suggested that perhaps there was too much chicken. ¶We want God to work in ways that fit our needs, wants, and desires. When it doesn’t happen on our schedule we are ready to complain about the timing and appropriateness of God’s actions in our lives. After giving thanks for all that God has done for the chosen people, the psalmist complains that God has not made a particular military victory as easy and complete as everyone had hoped. ‘It must be God’s fault that we were not as successful as we would have hoped. And as soon as God catches up to us, we will be victorious once again.’ ¶God is always with us. Sometimes God urges us to move forward despite our misgivings, sometimes urges us to hang back when we are overconfident. From time to time we are on the same wavelength as is God and we move in a unison that is exhilarating to everyone involved. The best examples from Scripture are of those who made the effort to listen to the leading God offers, and the worst are of those who set out without consulting God, and expected God to catch up after realizing how excellent their plan really was. ¶April 1, 2024 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1241 ¶Easter ¶March 31, 2024 ¶Psalm 101 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+101&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶This psalm of David in which he pledges to rule with loyalty and justice can set a standard for each of us. We may not rule a nation, however we have influence in groups of which we are a part. If we have no influence on anyone else, we have control of our own actions and reactions. David pledges to turn his life toward God in a way that leads him toward integrity, honesty, humility, and faithfulness. He makes no claim to having achieved the lofty goal of a blameless life, only of moving in that direction. ¶We know that he did not manage to walk in the way of God for very long at a time. We also know that some of the very things David claimed to hate, are the ones of which he was guilty. He was willing to have others killed in order to protect himself, to make other people suffer in order to protect his children, to encourage folks to break their vows to cover up his sinfulness. He did confess and repent of his sins, however he did not cleanse the city of God of all the evildoers since he remained there. ¶We can allow ourselves to become discouraged by David’s failures or we can use them as our own encouragement to keep at it, even when we slip into old habits. We can join David in confessing and repenting of our sins, and continue to study and follow the way that is blameless to the best of our ability, God being our helper. We can also continually strive to achieve the goals David set for himself, avoiding slander, haughtiness, arrogance, lies, and other manner of wickedness. All this so we can come ever closer to following the way that is blameless. ¶March 25, 2024 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1240 ¶Palm/Passion Sunday ¶March 24, 2024 ¶Psalm 94 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+94&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶We do like the idea of crushing our enemies, especially, if someone does it for us if we only ask. Whether it be a natural phenomenon, illness and disease, or a person or group we are ready to have God remove this terrible, no good, very bad person or thing out of our lives. We don’t deserve to have the world treat us so badly because we are some of God’s favorite people. Other people probably deserve their suffering, but we are not other people, we are special. ¶Interestingly, every group has at least a few people in it who see themselves as deserving special treatment from some higher power or other. Our God, YHWH, is quick to remind us that being faithful does not make us special in a privileged way, it makes us special as people called to serve others with willing hearts and hands. There are no guarantees that everyone will be grateful and treat us well, only that our service will bring us closer to God in a variety of ways. ¶Like us, the psalmist wants revenge on all those who have picked on friends and family. It is human to want the world to be fair and just almost all the time. The psalm includes a list of all the things that ‘those’ people have done to us along with the prayer that they all be destroyed by God in a frenzy of destruction. God, however, is not one to destroy our enemies by wiping them from the face of the earth. God destroys enemies the same way God calls us to destroy those who stand against us, by working to become friends together. ¶March 18, 2024 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1239 ¶Fifth Sunday in Lent ¶March 14, 2024 ¶Psalm 123 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+123&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶‘Puppy eyes’ is an expression that means something to those who have dogs as well as those who have children. It is the look of total innocence, begging to be noticed, and probably rewarded for having done something that may or may not actually warrant the kind of reward being sought. In both cases, dogs and children, it is likely that once the reward is received the puppy dog eyes, and the one who wields them disappear to enjoy the fruits of their labors. It is not that we are no longer loved so much as our attention is no longer sought. ¶We may not use the puppy dog eyes with God, however our intent is the same. We schmooze up to God in order to get something that we may or may not actually have a need for, but desire just the same. We believe our pleading and groveling will achieve our desired outcome. Luke 12:32 says, in part, “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” as a reminder that God is not an ogre or a slave master who must be flattered and appeased before we can receive anything worthwhile. ¶That doesn’t mean that God automatically gives us what we want. In the same way that God is not an ogre, God is not a pushover who caves to every demand and whim we may have. Somethings are left for us to do on our own, some are not possible for us at a given time. God is always full of love and mercy for us, and those around us. While we may have to put up with those who look down on us with contempt, and others may have to put up with us as we look on them with contempt, we do each come to an end in this world and receive full measure of God’s judgment and mercy. ¶March 12, 2024 ¶LCM