Psalm Meditation 539
Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Tim
October 17, 2010

Psalm 62
1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be shaken. 3 How long will you assail a person, will you batter your victim, all of you, as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4 Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence. They take pleasure in falsehood; they bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. (Selah)
5 For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. (Selah)
9 Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.
10 Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.
11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God,
and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work.
(NRSV)

When we come right down to it, what do we really have in our lives besides relationships? We start with a relationship with ourselves. For some it is a good relationship as we think of ourselves pretty much as we are. For others we have a warped relationship with ourselves; giving ourselves too much or too little credit for who we are and we can do in the world. We have relationships with other people and with the things around us. We have a relationship with God in some form. The psalmist reminds us that we do well to work on our relationship with God because that is the one that will outlast all the others.

If people turn on us we can continue to count on God to be present with us. If we get caught up in the pursuit of stuff we will eventually lose it all and God will be there with us in our poverty. When it seem that the world is not fair God is there as we pick ourselves up and go on with what we have. Whatever happens in our lives God is the one who is right there with us. We can relish that relationship, we can ignore it or we can actively stand against God; and in each case God is with us.

God draws us into relationships with folks we would not have chosen if we ran our lives the way we sometimes think we do. We get thrown in with family and co-workers and congregation members with whom we have little in common and we wonder what we are doing with these people. And then somehow we discover that we have a bond with someone or maybe a few someones that makes all the rest of the group a cherished part of our lives. Our lives rest in God and that is good.

© October 11, 2010