Psalm Meditation 517
Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 16, 2010

Psalm 98
1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.
2 The LORD has made known his victory; he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy
9 at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
(NRSV)

In every generation there have been folks who know that the world is going to the dogs and that we are a short span from total destruction due to our sin and wickedness, but especially the sin and wickedness of those other folk who are way worse than we are at living out the will of God. I can see the point even as I disagree with it. I see most of us making long slow progress toward God and each other on many fronts.

At either extreme and at the points between on the scale of the world going to the dogs or to God we can recite this Psalm as we end each day relatively unscathed. If the world is an evil place then God is victorious each time the people of God get through the day with our lives more or less intact. If the world is making long slow progress toward the will of God we can see each day as a new victory for God and the people of God as we get better at living out and spreading deep peace to the people in our circle of influence.

God may be in every military victory we celebrate. God is certainly in the smaller victories in which we make the choice toward fulfilling relationships with God and with each other. As we celebrate victories of steadfast love and faithfulness over hate and greed we will find ourselves singing a new song to and about the living God. It will be a communal song of victory over evil tendencies rather than victory over folks we see as evil. We will celebrate together with music and perhaps a dance.

© May 10, 2010