Psalm Meditation 548
Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 19, 2010

Psalm 34
1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.
3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.
9 O fear the Lord, you his holy ones, for those who fear him have no want.
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all.
20 He keeps all their bones; not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
(NRSV)

Much as we say we hate rules we really do love them, especially when they catch someone else as a rule breaker. We feel as if we have to keep refining and clarifying rules because someone comes up with a question about a particular situation that is not definitively spelled out in the rules we have so far. Interesting that the psalmist can teach us how to fear God in three verses and we look for loopholes that need further and further clarification.

“Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” It seems pretty straight forward as a psalm of praise, however when it becomes a rule there are questions and clarifications that need to be asked and answered. There are also exceptions that need to be raised since, for example, one person will believe that the instruction to seek peace means with everyone and someone else believes it only applies to those in our particular group.

We do like to know what is expected of us and we like for those expectations to be readily achievable. We also like to know that there is an ‘in’ group and an ‘out’ group and that we are part of the ‘in’ crowd. The psalmist reminds us that the folks who serve God are redeemed. Will it be the one who pursues peace only with ‘us’ or will it be the one who pursues peace with all? It is possible that God will redeem both since each serves to the best of their ability. Could it be that God will redeem those with whom we disagree as well as us since we see ourselves as servants of God?

December 13, 2010