Psalm Meditation 615
Palm/Passion Sunday
April 1, 2012

Psalm 107:1-15,39-43
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town;
5 hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress;
7 he led them by a straight way, until they reached an inhabited town.
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
9 For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
12 Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor; they fell down, with no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;
14 he brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder.
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
39 When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
40 he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41 but he raises up the needy out of distress, and makes their families like flocks.
42 The upright see it and are glad; and all wickedness stops its mouth.
43 Let those who are wise give heed to these things, and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
(NRSV)

Those of us who get to participate in the good life want to see that as the blessing of God on our lives. Some will even blame those who do not have a part in the goodness of this life for their lack. This psalm reminds us that one of the reasons we receive blessings is in order to share them with others. While we are willing to believe that we have received these things as a reward for our hard work and smart choices, most of us have inherited our good fortune in some measure.

In the event that we have received our bounty as a reward for hard work on our part God will call us to account if we have hoarded these riches. When we live as if there are limits to God’s bounty the psalmist tells us we will lose it; now or in a future generation. God gives so that we can share with others in the generous manner in which we have received. If we have inherited the riches of the world God asks that we pass those on in the same way we received them; as a gift of love.

God does not ask us to impoverish ourselves in order that others might receive more than we have ourselves. God does ask us to pass on a portion of our bounty as an act of gratitude. The threat in the psalm is that God will take away from those who will not share and give to those who are in need. While experience does not seem to bear out that God redistributes wealth by divine action, we do see that riches can become toxic in peoples’ lives and that the faithful can find countless blessings in the midst of poverty. The steadfast love of the Lord has a way of holding those who receive it.

© March 26, 2012