Psalm Meditation 579
Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 24, 2011

Psalm 70
1 Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. O LORD, make haste to help me!
2 Let those be put to shame and confusion who seek my life. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire to hurt me.
3 Let those who say, "Aha, Aha!" turn back because of their shame.
4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, "God is great!"
5 But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!
(NRSV)

I am reminded from time to time that not all those who “seek my life” and “desire to hurt me” are outside of me. I find myself having made bad choices and taking unnecessary risks with my life and health. I am perfectly willing to rationalize my behavior even though I would be very upset if someone else was as quick to put me in harm’s way as I can be. Some of the bad choices have become bad habits while others are one time events that put me in no less jeopardy than the ongoing choices of bad habits.

I want to be rescued from the force of bad habits and bad choices at least as much as I want to be delivered from anyone else who is trying to hurt or kill me. In either case I get to take some responsibility. If someone is out to get me, I do well to stay away from them as much as possible. If it is a bad habit that is hurting or killing me, I do well to make a new and better set of choices. However, I don’t turn to God when I have exhausted all my resources. I turn to God even as I am doing everything else I can.

God is great. And God is willing to be present with us when we are caught in the trenches of internal and external conflict. It is those of us who choose to seek God in our lives who are best able to experience the help and deliverance God offers to us. And as we experience God’s presence we are more willing to rejoice and be glad in the presence of God. God has a particular concern for those who cannot take care of themselves. And while God is present in all times and all places, those who seek God are more open to see all the ways God is already at work in our lives and the lives of those around us.

July 18, 2011