Psalm Meditation 574
Trinity Sunday
June 19, 2011

Psalm 69:1-4,12-15,29-36
1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
4 More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; many are those who would destroy me, my enemies who accuse me falsely. What I did not steal must I now restore?
12 I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. With your faithful help
14 rescue me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.
15 Do not let the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the Pit close its mouth over me.
29 But I am lowly and in pain; let your salvation, O God, protect me.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 Let the oppressed see it and be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33 For the LORD hears the needy, and does not despise his own that are in bonds.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; and his servants shall live there and possess it;
36 the children of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall live in it.
(NRSV)

A recurrent theme for me these days is that I want to make things more complicated and difficult than they need to be. I am convinced that I am not alone in this. I see a lot of other people doing all the big flashy things to get the attention of God, a friend, a family member, a boss or supervisor and any number of other folks who already have a loving eye turned to us. As a part of this theme verses 30-31 jumped into my lap with a particular urgency this morning. In an attempt to win God’s favor we go as big as we can with our gifts. We keep trying to earn God’s love even as we know that God already loves us beyond our ability to comprehend. What God wants to know is that we return the love that is already being given to us.

We want to give the biggest gift our resources can possibly allow and God wants us to curl up on the lap of the divine and sing a song or say a simple ‘thank-you.’ How would our lives be different if we simply accepted the love that folks, including God, offer to us on a daily basis? My guess is that most of our fears about doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason would disappear and we could simply do and be with the confidence of those who are aware of being deeply loved.

This doesn’t mean life will suddenly get easy; it simply means we would not ever have to worry about whether or not we are loved. We are. We will still have to deal with mistakes and the inappropriate actions of those around us, as well as our own. Already knowing that we are loved we won’t have to go through the gymnastics of covering our mishaps in an effort to protect a reputation. We simply accept our foibles as we accept the love. We fix what we can, make reparations and apologies where needed and move on in the security of the love that fills and surrounds us.

June 13, 2011