Psalm Meditation 486
Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
October 11, 2009

Psalm 68:7-23
7 O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad; you restored your heritage when it languished;
10 your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.
11 The Lord gives the command; great is the company of those who bore the tidings:
12 "The kings of the armies, they flee, they flee!" The women at home divide the spoil,
13 though they stay among the sheepfolds-- the wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with green gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered kings there, snow fell on Zalmon.
15 O mighty mountain, mountain of Bashan; O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16 Why do you look with envy, O many-peaked mountain, at the mount that God desired for his abode, where the LORD will reside forever?
17 With mighty chariotry, twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands, the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place.
18 You ascended the high mount, leading captives in your train and receiving gifts from people, even from those who rebel against the LORD God's abiding there.
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah
20 Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belongs escape from death.
21 But God will shatter the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of those who walk in their guilty ways.
22 The Lord said, "I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 so that you may bathe your feet in blood, so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe."
(NRSV)

Even though this particular section of the psalm ends in blood the important part is the reminder that “Our God is a God of salvation.” Through any victories and defeats we may go the destination toward which God is leading is salvation. Whether we live or die it is God’s intention to bring us to wholeness, which is what the word salvation means. If we bathe our feet in the blood of our enemies while celebrating how wonderful we are in ourselves we have missed out on salvation. If it is our enemies who bathe their feet in our blood and we have remained faithful to God and trusted in God’s providence and deliverance we have found the salvation God promises.

Salvation is not about winning and coming in first so much as it is about standing firm in the presence of God and having within ourselves an assurance that whether we live or die we are made whole in our relationship with God and others. Winning is wonderful. If winning comes at the cost of our relationship with God it comes at a high price indeed. Salvation is more about a relationship than it is about winning or losing.

It is good to win and it hurts to lose. We can define winning and losing however we like, and we do, so that we end up defining what we did as winning. We can also change the categories so that it is not about winning or losing so much as it is bring as many folks as possible into a relationship of wholeness with God and others. It is probably easier to measure beating and getting beaten. I hope it is more in line with God’s will for us to move in directions that lead to healing and wholeness: salvation.

© October 5, 2009