Psalm Meditation 537
Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
October 3, 2010
Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his anointed, saying,
3 "Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us."
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 "I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill."
7 I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my son; today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, with trembling
12 kiss his feet, or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Happy are all who take refuge in him.
(NRSV)
There is some war time bravado in this psalm. Some of the nations who have been conquered by Israel are plotting a rebellion and the psalmist lets them know that they are not simply rising against a king and nation, they are rising against the God of all creation as well. And Yahweh laughs at these other kings because they have no idea of the scope of power that is behind the king of Israel. God has placed the king on the throne and it would be foolish for anyone to attempt to go against the will of God in this matter.
I see this as war time bravado because I know from personal experience how easy it is to go against the will of God. I hear that voice in my head that some call conscience and that others recognize as the voice of God, and I still do what I had planned to do. So at least in individual instances it is possible to thwart the will of God and we do so on a regular basis.
At the same time, I know that God is infinitely patient and adaptable. When someone acts outside the will of God someone else is living in such a way that God is brought to bear on the situation in a new way. Since going against God’s will is based more in my own selfishness than in an intentional thwarting of God’s will I am able to live out God’s will for me in another set of circumstances. God continues to gather us into a divine embrace even as we wander off to do our own thing.
It is God’s desire and intent to love us and guide us in ways that lead us to a sense of joy and fulfillment in the presence of God and in the company of others who have chosen to follow the way that leads to refuge, peace and justice.
© September 27, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Psalm Meditation 536
Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 26, 2010
Psalm 121
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
(NRSV)
In some translations the first verse of this psalm is a question as it is here. In others it is a statement. “I lift up my eyes to the hills from where my help comes / will come.” It is an appropriate difference. There are times we know exactly where we can turn for help and other times we are not so sure. We know there is a source of help outside us somewhere we are simply unclear as to where that might be at this moment.
In both cases, whether it is a question or a statement, the psalmist is sure that the answer is the same. Help comes from Yahweh. God is a constant source of help and is already watching over us before we begin our search for help and comfort. Whether we turn to God immediately or cast about for some unknown source of help it is finally God who gives us the help and hope we need.
God is with us. God is with us in our celebrations as well as in our grief. God is with us as we shout out praises and as we shout angrily about the unfairness of the way things are going currently. God is with us in the easy and hard times between our celebrations and the low moments of our lives. Whether we are asking or stating where our help comes from we have the assurance of the psalmist and the host of folks who have taken this psalm as their own that it is God who gives us help and who keeps our lives.
© September 21, 2010
Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 26, 2010
Psalm 121
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
(NRSV)
In some translations the first verse of this psalm is a question as it is here. In others it is a statement. “I lift up my eyes to the hills from where my help comes / will come.” It is an appropriate difference. There are times we know exactly where we can turn for help and other times we are not so sure. We know there is a source of help outside us somewhere we are simply unclear as to where that might be at this moment.
In both cases, whether it is a question or a statement, the psalmist is sure that the answer is the same. Help comes from Yahweh. God is a constant source of help and is already watching over us before we begin our search for help and comfort. Whether we turn to God immediately or cast about for some unknown source of help it is finally God who gives us the help and hope we need.
God is with us. God is with us in our celebrations as well as in our grief. God is with us as we shout out praises and as we shout angrily about the unfairness of the way things are going currently. God is with us in the easy and hard times between our celebrations and the low moments of our lives. Whether we are asking or stating where our help comes from we have the assurance of the psalmist and the host of folks who have taken this psalm as their own that it is God who gives us help and who keeps our lives.
© September 21, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Psalm Meditation 535
Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 19, 2010
Psalm 91
1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
2 will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust."
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence;
4 he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day,
6 or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place,
10 no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
14 Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name.
15 When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.
16 With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.
(NRSV)
My father advised me to be a short range pessimist and a long range optimist. Even things don’t work out the way one would choose at this point it will work out in the long run. That this psalm is looking to the future may indicate that the psalmist is taking the same long view. I can see this psalm as advice to a group of young people who have not seen a lot of adversity and have no idea what to expect of the future. It paints a fairly rosy picture of the future. Rosy does not make it wrong. There are folks whose lives are not touched and marred by constant violence, sickness and dread. There are folks who live what some might call uneventful lives. There are folks for whom life works well.
The psalmist advises that one of the ways to prosper in life is to be faithful to God. It is not a guarantee that all will go well and the nothing bad will happen so much as it is a piece of advise from experience that taking refuge in God works out much better than going along without God. Is taking refuge in God some kind of magic spell that protects folks from evil and death? No. Does taking refuge in God make the evils of the world survivable by putting them in a deeper and wider perspective? Yes.
God makes no promise that we will never see trouble. God promises to be with us. Will terrible things happen to us and to those we love? It is possible. God will be with us in those times to give us the comfort that even the worst calamity will not last forever and that at the end of it we will continue to be in the presence of God.
© September 13, 2010
Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 19, 2010
Psalm 91
1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
2 will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust."
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence;
4 he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day,
6 or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place,
10 no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
14 Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name.
15 When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.
16 With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.
(NRSV)
My father advised me to be a short range pessimist and a long range optimist. Even things don’t work out the way one would choose at this point it will work out in the long run. That this psalm is looking to the future may indicate that the psalmist is taking the same long view. I can see this psalm as advice to a group of young people who have not seen a lot of adversity and have no idea what to expect of the future. It paints a fairly rosy picture of the future. Rosy does not make it wrong. There are folks whose lives are not touched and marred by constant violence, sickness and dread. There are folks who live what some might call uneventful lives. There are folks for whom life works well.
The psalmist advises that one of the ways to prosper in life is to be faithful to God. It is not a guarantee that all will go well and the nothing bad will happen so much as it is a piece of advise from experience that taking refuge in God works out much better than going along without God. Is taking refuge in God some kind of magic spell that protects folks from evil and death? No. Does taking refuge in God make the evils of the world survivable by putting them in a deeper and wider perspective? Yes.
God makes no promise that we will never see trouble. God promises to be with us. Will terrible things happen to us and to those we love? It is possible. God will be with us in those times to give us the comfort that even the worst calamity will not last forever and that at the end of it we will continue to be in the presence of God.
© September 13, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Psalm Meditation 534
Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 12, 2010
Psalm 61
1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I;
3 for you are my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
4 Let me abide in your tent forever, find refuge under the shelter of your wings. Selah
5 For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations!
7 May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8 So I will always sing praises to your name, as I pay my vows day after day.
(NRSV)
God is a great place to turn in times of trouble, a fortress against the onslaught of stresses and strains that accompany problem situations. In normal times we are content to leave God in the background waiting for the next crisis. We know God is there we simply don’t let God’s presence make a difference in the choices and decisions we make on a daily basis. We know that if it doesn’t turn out well we can go running to God and it will suddenly be all better because God is there to fix it for us.
There are folks, and you may be one of them, for whom the relationship with God is a daily source of sustenance. These are the folks who spend time with God, who find sustenance in God’s presence and who allow God to make a difference in the choices they make. They find their lives influenced by God’s presence and are not content expecting God to follow them around to clean up the messes they make of their lives. God is a regular part of every day in their lives.
The folks with an abiding sense of the presence of God in their lives find themselves asking God to bless folks both within and outside their circle of influence. They bless folks they love, folks with whom they are familiar as well as those with whom they disagree on any number of things. They recognize that imperfections are a part of our human condition and that none of us is free from guilt in some degree. The most important part of the day for these folks is the time they spend in the presence of God singing praises and deepening the relationship with God that is so much a part of their lives that it spills into every other relationship of their lives.
© September 7, 2010
Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 12, 2010
Psalm 61
1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I;
3 for you are my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
4 Let me abide in your tent forever, find refuge under the shelter of your wings. Selah
5 For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations!
7 May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8 So I will always sing praises to your name, as I pay my vows day after day.
(NRSV)
God is a great place to turn in times of trouble, a fortress against the onslaught of stresses and strains that accompany problem situations. In normal times we are content to leave God in the background waiting for the next crisis. We know God is there we simply don’t let God’s presence make a difference in the choices and decisions we make on a daily basis. We know that if it doesn’t turn out well we can go running to God and it will suddenly be all better because God is there to fix it for us.
There are folks, and you may be one of them, for whom the relationship with God is a daily source of sustenance. These are the folks who spend time with God, who find sustenance in God’s presence and who allow God to make a difference in the choices they make. They find their lives influenced by God’s presence and are not content expecting God to follow them around to clean up the messes they make of their lives. God is a regular part of every day in their lives.
The folks with an abiding sense of the presence of God in their lives find themselves asking God to bless folks both within and outside their circle of influence. They bless folks they love, folks with whom they are familiar as well as those with whom they disagree on any number of things. They recognize that imperfections are a part of our human condition and that none of us is free from guilt in some degree. The most important part of the day for these folks is the time they spend in the presence of God singing praises and deepening the relationship with God that is so much a part of their lives that it spills into every other relationship of their lives.
© September 7, 2010
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