Psalm Meditation 543
Twenty fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
November 14, 2010

Psalm 33
1 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright.
2 Praise the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.
13 The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind.
14 From where he sits enthroned he watches all the inhabitants of the earth--
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all, and observes all their deeds.
16 A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save.
18 Truly the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and shield.
21 Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
(NRSV)

I will confess to a long standing prejudice against contemporary Christian music. The summary of my prejudice is: it is bad music with Christian lyrics and those are usually pretty bad too. I don’t know if the music has changed, if I have changed or if I was simply exposed to particularly bad examples of the genre, whatever the cause I do like at least some contemporary Christian music. All of that leads to zeroing in on verse three, “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.”

I am pretty sure that I am not the only one who sometimes gives God less than my best while I worship, especially in those times I do not have some leadership role. I depend on the skills and gifts of others to carry me so I don’t have to give my best effort to God. We can find ourselves content with giving God ‘good enough’ instead of playing skillfully on the strings of the instruments we use to praise God. Neither God nor the psalmist ask for perfect execution of every task in worship. The psalmist reminds us to use our skills to the best of our ability at any particular day and time and to use the time leading up to those days to work on honing and building our skills for the sake of praising God.

I will only mention in passing the first part of the verse, sing a new song.

God is not an ogre who sets perfection as the minimum standard. God loves us and wants us to grow into the best that is possible for each of us. Rest assured that the love of God is steadfast and is not conditional on our contribution to the relationship. God does appreciate it when we give our best and God loves us no matter what. That is why our hearts are glad and our trust is in God’s holy name.

© November 8, 2010