Psalm Meditation 490
Twenty third Sunday of Ordinary Time
November 8, 2009

Psalm 19
1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;
4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
(NRSV)

At some point in our lives it becomes important to look at what we believe and why it is that we believe it. As we begin the process we discover that we believe because someone taught us to believe a certain set of beliefs. Part of the process of adolescence is to reject many of those beliefs as outdated and outmoded and wrong. As we continue the process by building a completely new belief system we discover that some of those old beliefs from our childhood now make perfect sense. We discover that, “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul...”

We may revise the beliefs of our childhood so that they make sense for our particular situation in life. We discover with the psalmist that the ways of God as we understand them revive us, give us great joy, are timeless and are a source of great wealth in our lives. We discover that while the particulars of our childhood belief system may not work we find ourselves using the same framework for our own beliefs. As we have willingly revised the beliefs of our upbringing we do well to remain open to change and newness in our current beliefs so that they do not grow stale or contain small errors that get bigger over time. We do well to keep our hearts tuned to God so that we do not become overly rigid in our beliefs and practices.

When we are tuned to God we are more ready to see all the ways God is active in our lives. We see the sunrise as a gift of God rather than a daily science experiment; we hear the wind as a voice of praise to God and not simply an expression of interplay of natural forces in and around the earth. We see that the people, creatures, places and events around us are gifts to be treasured rather than resources to be expended. We see God as one we experience rather than one in whom we simply believe. When we are tuned to God we discover our rock and our redeemer.

© November 2, 2009