Psalm Meditation 475
Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 2, 2009

Psalm 116
1 I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I pray, save my life!"
5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful.
6 The LORD protects the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
9 I walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
10 I kept my faith, even when I said, "I am greatly afflicted";
11 I said in my consternation, "Everyone is a liar."
12 What shall I return to the LORD for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD,
14 I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)

There is always a reason for us to love God; our love is always a response to something God has done in our lives. It is, however, still a choice that we make. We do not love God because we are forced to do so, we have been given the choice to love God or not. In the situation of this psalm there was an illness, perhaps, from which the psalmist prayed to be saved. In other cases folks abandon God at the first sign of illness. Rather than ask to be delivered they simply choose to reject God and any relief or benefit that might come from depending on God’s presence in our lives.

If for no other reason our love for God is a response to God’s presence in our lives. As a parent can love a child before the child is aware of the presence of the parent so is God able to love us and be present with us in ways that are outside our ability to comprehend or match. Our children will grow up to be adults and will be able to give and take with us on a level plane. Because we are not on a level with God we cannot out love or out respond to God.

It is sometimes said that God does not need our thanks and praise. While in one sense I agree I also believe that God does appreciate and relish our responses of thanks and praise for all that God does in our lives. God is certainly self-sufficient, however that does not mean that God is so self-contained that there is no room for us to be in relationship with God. God has chosen to be in love with us and so has chosen to be touched by the ways we react to the loving presence God offers to us. While God does not need our praise, God deeply desires and is touched by each of our responses. Praise the LORD.

© July 27, 2009