Psalm Meditation 504
Transfiguration Sunday
February 14, 2010

Psalm 71:1-10,17-24
1 In you, O LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.
7 I have been like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me, and those who watch for my life consult together.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come. Your power
19 and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?
20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my honor, and comfort me once again.
22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have rescued.
24 All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help, for those who tried to do me harm have been put to shame, and disgraced.
(NRSV)

I am not sure if the change is a pendulum shift from one to the other and back again or if it a more permanent change in our view of God. In one view God gives good things to good people and bad things to bad people; so if bad things are happening to you then you must be a bad person. In the other view things happen that are good and bad and God is with us no matter what. Faithful people are aware of the presence of God and other people struggle along in good and bad times believing they are on their own. In this psalm the psalmist knows that God is a refuge and source of strength and calls on God to be an overpowering presence in this time.

Does God forsake us when we do bad things and leave us to struggle on alone until such time as we have pulled ourselves together and clawed our way back to the presence of God by our good behavior? I know there are parents who turn icy to their children when they do not live up to the standards the parent has set. I also know the children resent those parents who expect from their children what they cannot do themselves. If God is like that I am in deep trouble.

Does God remain present with us no matter what and it is we who get sidetracked, lose focus and feel abandoned because we have lost sight of God? I am told that what children cannot see does not exist for them. This explains why they tend to walk behind their parents in large crowds so that they can keep their parents from disappearing. We may know better, however that does not keep us from acting as if what we cannot see does not exist. God is ever present in our lives. God leads, guides and points the way while not forcing us to go that way. God loves us and is present with us no matter what. At our best we are open to God’s presence and take refuge in the rock and fortress that is the presence of God.

© February 8, 2010