Psalm Meditation 563
Fourth Sunday in Lent
April 3, 2011
Psalm 37 selected
1 Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers,
2 for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.
4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday.
7 Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.
8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret--it leads only to evil.
9 For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
10 Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.
11 But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous, and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the LORD laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to kill those who walk uprightly;
25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
26 They are ever giving liberally and lending, and their children become a blessing.
27 Depart from evil, and do good; so you shall abide forever.
39 The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their refuge in the time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and rescues them; he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him.
(NRSV)
An interesting thing about the wicked is that, though they perish as individuals, there seem to be new generations of wicked folks rising to replace those who have perished. In some cases the new generation is even the cause of the destruction of the current generation of wicked. Wickedness does have a fertile breeding ground. Wickedness is both self destructive and self sustaining at the same time. Wicked organizations and families train the next generation by modeling behaviors that carry on and expand the influence of their brand of wickedness. Then folks have to be on guard against becoming victims of the destructive practices they have taught.
Righteousness sustains itself by example as well as by the presence and blessing of God. One generation works side by side with those behind and before, raising up a new generation while being sustained by those who trained and mentored them in the ways of God. Righteousness is a difficult path since it involves setting aside personal glory for the sake of the larger community, including those who would bend the community for the sake of personal gain. Righteousness requires the dual focus of looking to God while looking out for the whole of the community around us.
Individuals make choices because of and despite upbringing. Some folks who were trained in righteousness make choices that lead to evil consequences, others make the choice of righteousness though raised in an environment rife with wickedness. God cheers on those who lean toward righteousness. One of the ways God offers to sustain us is through the community of faith that encourages and keeps us.
March 28, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Psalm Meditation 562
Third Sunday in Lent
March 27, 2011
Psalm 7
1 O LORD my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,
2 or like a lion they will tear me apart; they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my ally with harm or plundered my foe without cause,
5 then let the enemy pursue and overtake me, trample my life to the ground, and lay my soul in the dust. Selah
6 Rise up, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake, O my God; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you, and over it take your seat on high.
8 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God.
10 God is my shield, who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.
12 If one does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and strung his bow;
13 he has prepared his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 See how they conceive evil, and are pregnant with mischief, and bring forth lies.
15 They make a pit, digging it out, and fall into the hole that they have made.
16 Their mischief returns upon their own heads, and on their own heads their violence descends.
17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.
(NRSV)
When someone attacks us, one of the questions that may come to mind is, ‘did I do anything to bring this on; am as a guilty as this person believes me to be?’ It is important to, at least, entertain the possibility that we have done something to put us on the receiving end of this kind of violent or passionate reaction from another person or group. We may discover that we are guilty and need to confess and repent as we accept the punishment/discipline being meted out. We may discover that there is guilt on both sides. We need to confess and repent our guilt and accept confession and repentance that may come from the others involved. We may discover that we are the target of an attack simply by being in the way at the time of the attack.
Once we decide where the fault lies we are ready to call down God’s judgment, on ourselves, others, and the systems who perpetuate sin, violence and evil in the world. Like so many others before us, we recognize that God is the one who is best suited to judge and to discipline those who live under the hand of God. We place ourselves in God’s hands for shelter, protection, and at times, a bit of each.
At our best we discover that God can and does find and root out the evil present on both sides or all sides of a conflict. God brings us to salvation, to judgment, and sometimes God brings us together as we discover our common ground. It would be wonderful if every conflict ended in the parties falling into each other’s arms in a declaration of peace and harmony. Evil continues in intentional and unintentional forms so the end of conflict as the beginning of harmony does not happen every time. There will continue to be arrogance, possessiveness and entitlement (just to name three) on one or all sides of a conflict. The best we can do is to yield ourselves to God to the best of our ability and as often as possible as we give thanks and sing praise to the God of righteousness.
March 21, 2011
Third Sunday in Lent
March 27, 2011
Psalm 7
1 O LORD my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,
2 or like a lion they will tear me apart; they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my ally with harm or plundered my foe without cause,
5 then let the enemy pursue and overtake me, trample my life to the ground, and lay my soul in the dust. Selah
6 Rise up, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake, O my God; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you, and over it take your seat on high.
8 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God.
10 God is my shield, who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.
12 If one does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and strung his bow;
13 he has prepared his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 See how they conceive evil, and are pregnant with mischief, and bring forth lies.
15 They make a pit, digging it out, and fall into the hole that they have made.
16 Their mischief returns upon their own heads, and on their own heads their violence descends.
17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.
(NRSV)
When someone attacks us, one of the questions that may come to mind is, ‘did I do anything to bring this on; am as a guilty as this person believes me to be?’ It is important to, at least, entertain the possibility that we have done something to put us on the receiving end of this kind of violent or passionate reaction from another person or group. We may discover that we are guilty and need to confess and repent as we accept the punishment/discipline being meted out. We may discover that there is guilt on both sides. We need to confess and repent our guilt and accept confession and repentance that may come from the others involved. We may discover that we are the target of an attack simply by being in the way at the time of the attack.
Once we decide where the fault lies we are ready to call down God’s judgment, on ourselves, others, and the systems who perpetuate sin, violence and evil in the world. Like so many others before us, we recognize that God is the one who is best suited to judge and to discipline those who live under the hand of God. We place ourselves in God’s hands for shelter, protection, and at times, a bit of each.
At our best we discover that God can and does find and root out the evil present on both sides or all sides of a conflict. God brings us to salvation, to judgment, and sometimes God brings us together as we discover our common ground. It would be wonderful if every conflict ended in the parties falling into each other’s arms in a declaration of peace and harmony. Evil continues in intentional and unintentional forms so the end of conflict as the beginning of harmony does not happen every time. There will continue to be arrogance, possessiveness and entitlement (just to name three) on one or all sides of a conflict. The best we can do is to yield ourselves to God to the best of our ability and as often as possible as we give thanks and sing praise to the God of righteousness.
March 21, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Psalm Meditation 561
Sunday
, 2011
Psalm 126
1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."
3 The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.
4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5 May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
(NRSV)
Every now and again something more wonderful than we can imagine happens to us. It feels as if it were a dream and one of the fears of some of us is that we will wake up and find that none of this wonderfulness has really happened. The psalmist celebrates one of those moments here. The initial disbelief gives way to laughter and shouts of joy. These are amazing moments that are not easy to describe to someone who has not had a similar experience. We know it when we see and we enjoy it when we experience it, we can’t share it with anyone who did not experience that particular event.
At our best we will give God some of the credit for these moments. Even if it were accomplished by virtue of our own particular set of gifts and talents we owe God a moment of gratitude for those gifts. From the standpoint of a relationship with God we want to share these dreamlike moments as we would want to share them with any other friend, especially one who is as close to us as God can be.
Since not all fortunes are material, (the most important ones seem not to be material) God can and does restore our fortunes in ways that may not seem that impressive to folks who are not in the midst of a particular event. Something that seems as simple as a renewed sense of security after a trauma or tragedy can seem like a restored fortune. To be able to rebuild a sense of home, family and place after surviving an earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, tornado, fire, break-in or any number of other events that keep us on edge is a gift of resilience which is a gift of God. At our best, we may begin the process with weeping but we come through it with a sense of grace and joy.
March 14, 2011
Sunday
, 2011
Psalm 126
1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."
3 The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.
4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5 May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
(NRSV)
Every now and again something more wonderful than we can imagine happens to us. It feels as if it were a dream and one of the fears of some of us is that we will wake up and find that none of this wonderfulness has really happened. The psalmist celebrates one of those moments here. The initial disbelief gives way to laughter and shouts of joy. These are amazing moments that are not easy to describe to someone who has not had a similar experience. We know it when we see and we enjoy it when we experience it, we can’t share it with anyone who did not experience that particular event.
At our best we will give God some of the credit for these moments. Even if it were accomplished by virtue of our own particular set of gifts and talents we owe God a moment of gratitude for those gifts. From the standpoint of a relationship with God we want to share these dreamlike moments as we would want to share them with any other friend, especially one who is as close to us as God can be.
Since not all fortunes are material, (the most important ones seem not to be material) God can and does restore our fortunes in ways that may not seem that impressive to folks who are not in the midst of a particular event. Something that seems as simple as a renewed sense of security after a trauma or tragedy can seem like a restored fortune. To be able to rebuild a sense of home, family and place after surviving an earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, tornado, fire, break-in or any number of other events that keep us on edge is a gift of resilience which is a gift of God. At our best, we may begin the process with weeping but we come through it with a sense of grace and joy.
March 14, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Psalm Meditation 560
First Sunday in Lent
March 13, 2011
Psalm 96
1 O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.
4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 Worship the LORD in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity."
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the LORD; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth.
(NRSV)
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, advised people in his societies on hymn singing, among other things. The rule I find myself having to point out most often is the one that advises us to ‘sing lustily and with good courage, being no more ashamed of our voices than when we sang the songs of Satan.’ It serves as a reminder that we can be intimidated by God in such a way that we are afraid our best may not be good enough. That fear of failure or inadequacy shakes our confidence to the point that we are as unable to perform to the best of our ability as we are unwilling to be less than perfect.
Given the choice between being in a relationship of fear or one in which we are more chummy with God than is ‘proper’ I believe God wants us to err on the side of a relationship in which we find ourselves trusting rather than fearing God. God is not nearly as concerned with whether or not we make mistakes as with whether or not we are in an intimate relationship with God.
We do not have the same gifts as the folks around us and none of us has all the gifts we might want, let alone all the gifts there are. So, we do well to identify the gifts God has given to us, use them to the best of our ability to glorify God and to let people know what we have seen, heard and experienced in our relationship with God. I believe we will find that God would much rather we use our gifts to give God glory than to hide them away because they are less then perfect. “Sing for joy before the Lord.”
March 7, 2011
First Sunday in Lent
March 13, 2011
Psalm 96
1 O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.
4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 Worship the LORD in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity."
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the LORD; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth.
(NRSV)
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, advised people in his societies on hymn singing, among other things. The rule I find myself having to point out most often is the one that advises us to ‘sing lustily and with good courage, being no more ashamed of our voices than when we sang the songs of Satan.’ It serves as a reminder that we can be intimidated by God in such a way that we are afraid our best may not be good enough. That fear of failure or inadequacy shakes our confidence to the point that we are as unable to perform to the best of our ability as we are unwilling to be less than perfect.
Given the choice between being in a relationship of fear or one in which we are more chummy with God than is ‘proper’ I believe God wants us to err on the side of a relationship in which we find ourselves trusting rather than fearing God. God is not nearly as concerned with whether or not we make mistakes as with whether or not we are in an intimate relationship with God.
We do not have the same gifts as the folks around us and none of us has all the gifts we might want, let alone all the gifts there are. So, we do well to identify the gifts God has given to us, use them to the best of our ability to glorify God and to let people know what we have seen, heard and experienced in our relationship with God. I believe we will find that God would much rather we use our gifts to give God glory than to hide them away because they are less then perfect. “Sing for joy before the Lord.”
March 7, 2011
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