Psalm Meditation 491
Twenty fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
November 15, 2009

Psalm 44:1-17,26
1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our ancestors have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free;
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm give them victory; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, for you delighted in them.
4 You are my King and my God; you command victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down our assailants.
6 For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes, and have put to confusion those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 Yet you have rejected us and abased us, and have not gone out with our armies.
10 You made us turn back from the foe, and our enemies have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter, and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face
16 at the words of the taunters and revilers, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten you, or been false to your covenant.
26 Rise up, come to our help. Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.
(NRSV)

There is an interesting tension at work in this psalm, a tension of which we too must be aware. How much of what goes on in and around us is the work of God and how much is our own effort. I know folks who take credit for all the good things that happen to them and pass off the blame to others, including God, when things don’t go well. I also know folks who take the blame when things go wrong and give glory to God when things go well. Can it be that God is a micro-manager who can’t let us succeed and fail on our own? Can it be that God is too far away to be concerned with what we do on a day to day basis? Or is it that God presents us with gifts and skills to use and then sits like a parent on the sidelines cheering us on.

Most of us learn early that it is rude to take too much credit for a success and that it is damaging to take too much blame for a failure. People of faith also recognize that God is in the mix somewhere and is willing and able to take a portion of the credit and blame in each of our lives. There is a place for ego as well as humility in the events of our lives. We have every right and responsibility to be proud of the things we accomplish. At the same time we do well to recognize that others have contributed to our successes. The most humbling failure usually has blame to pass around outside ourselves even as we do well to let ourselves be humbled by our faults and failures. Through the highs and lows God is there to cheer us on and to give us comfort.

God is in this with us by choice: God loves us beyond measure. It isn’t always or usually about winning and losing so much as it is about relationships. As we are able to build relationships with God and others we find that the most important victory is the one from our kindergarten report card, “Plays well with others.”

© November 9, 2009