Psalm Meditation 655
Epiphany
January 6, 2013
Psalm 115
1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?"
3 Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats.
8 Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.
12 The LORD has been mindful of us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron;
13 he will bless those who fear the LORD, both small and great.
14 May the LORD give you increase, both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
16 The heavens are the LORD's heavens, but the earth he has given to human beings.
17 The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any that go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the LORD from this time on and forevermore. Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)
To be idolatrous is to put a thing in the place of God. That thing is given ultimate significance and authority in the life of the person caught up in the worship of this idol. There are folks who pursue wealth as if it had the power to save them for eternity. There are folks who pursue power as if it could give them all they want out of life. These things are not simply a means to an end, they are the end, the sole purpose for one’s existence. There is a certain sense of satisfaction in getting more of whatever it is that drives one’s life.
It is more satisfying to us to trust in God, to see God as present and active in every aspect of our lives. God is not a thing of which we can get more and more and thus become satisfied. God is one who wants to be in relationship with us and with whom we want to be in relationship. The blessings that come our way are a by-product of the relationship we have with God and not the reason we are in the relationship. We do get some benefit out of every relationship we enter. If we don’t get some benefit we leave the relationship. The best relationships are a fulfilling mix of giving and receiving together.
A comment I have both heard and experienced in relation to early video games is that no one ever won, the levels just got harder and faster until the gamer finally gave up. The computer always wins. In an idolatrous relationship, the idol is the one who wins. A person gives more and more and it goes faster and faster. In the end there is no real payoff. In our relationship with God, we have a sense of mutuality, we know that we are giving something and getting something in return. We may even have the sense that God is the one being shortchanged in our relationship. In a relationship with God it is not about winning and losing it is about being in the presence of God.
December 31, 2012
Monday, December 31, 2012
Monday, December 24, 2012
Psalm Meditation 654
First Sunday After Christmas
December 30, 2012
Psalm 85
1 Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. (Selah)
3 You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.
4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
8 Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.
(NRSV)
God speaks peace to those who are faithful, whose hearts turn to God. That raised the question as to which comes first, inner peace or world peace. Today, I am inclined to believe that inner peace has to come first. Once we put away our inclination toward satisfying our own needs and wants before we consider the needs and wants of others we will find an inner peace and contentment that will make a more universal peace possible. This is the kind of peace that God speaks to the hearts of faithful people in countless ways and in a wide variety of places.
There is also the peace that is lack of war; a peace that is usually ordered from the top down. The Pax Romana, The Roman Peace, came about when the Romans had conquered all the people who surrounded them and enforced a lack of war among the folks over whom they ruled. This peace is full of discontent as folks struggle under the restraints forced upon them by the very folks who had taken their freedom.
Inner peace, a sense of contentment and a willingness to share what we have with others, leads us into ever deepening relationships with God and others. External peace, an absence of conflict, is often enforced by top down power structures that lead to conflicts as we struggle to gain or regain our own power and control.
The peace that God offers brings us to a sense of wholeness within ourselves and our communities. It takes effort to achieve and maintain a sense of peace within ourselves. It is an ongoing process of tuning our hearts to God, opening ourselves to the hurts and hopes of others and giving and receiving with gratitude and grace.
December 24, 2012
First Sunday After Christmas
December 30, 2012
Psalm 85
1 Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. (Selah)
3 You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.
4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
8 Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.
(NRSV)
God speaks peace to those who are faithful, whose hearts turn to God. That raised the question as to which comes first, inner peace or world peace. Today, I am inclined to believe that inner peace has to come first. Once we put away our inclination toward satisfying our own needs and wants before we consider the needs and wants of others we will find an inner peace and contentment that will make a more universal peace possible. This is the kind of peace that God speaks to the hearts of faithful people in countless ways and in a wide variety of places.
There is also the peace that is lack of war; a peace that is usually ordered from the top down. The Pax Romana, The Roman Peace, came about when the Romans had conquered all the people who surrounded them and enforced a lack of war among the folks over whom they ruled. This peace is full of discontent as folks struggle under the restraints forced upon them by the very folks who had taken their freedom.
Inner peace, a sense of contentment and a willingness to share what we have with others, leads us into ever deepening relationships with God and others. External peace, an absence of conflict, is often enforced by top down power structures that lead to conflicts as we struggle to gain or regain our own power and control.
The peace that God offers brings us to a sense of wholeness within ourselves and our communities. It takes effort to achieve and maintain a sense of peace within ourselves. It is an ongoing process of tuning our hearts to God, opening ourselves to the hurts and hopes of others and giving and receiving with gratitude and grace.
December 24, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Psalm Meditation 653
Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 23, 2012
Psalm 55
1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my supplication.
2 Attend to me, and answer me; I am troubled in my complaint. I am distraught
3 by the noise of the enemy, because of the clamor of the wicked. For they bring trouble upon me, and in anger they cherish enmity against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me, the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.
6 And I say, "O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;
7 truly, I would flee far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; (Selah)
8 I would hurry to find a shelter for myself from the raging wind and tempest."
9 Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech; for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.
12 It is not enemies who taunt me— I could bear that; it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me— I could hide from them.
13 But it is you, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend,
14 with whom I kept pleasant company; we walked in the house of God with the throng.
15 Let death come upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol; for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.
16 But I call upon God, and the LORD will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he will hear my voice.
18 He will redeem me unharmed from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.
19 God, who is enthroned from of old, (Selah) will hear, and will humble them— because they do not change, and do not fear God.
20 My companion laid hands on a friend and violated a covenant with me
21 with speech smoother than butter, but with a heart set on war; with words that were softer than oil, but in fact were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, O God, will cast them down into the lowest pit; the bloodthirsty and treacherous shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.
(NRSV)
I used the phrase ‘unspeakable evil’ to describe recent events. At some point it dawned on me that the concept in the phrase may be a part of the problem, and has been since the time of the psalms. When we refuse to speak of evil, it has free reign in our hearts and lives. When we refuse to acknowledge the possibility that we, that I, have the capacity for evil, we find and make ways to justify our own actions so that others can be blamed. As long as we can find a way to see ourselves as not guilty we can justify thoughts and actions beyond what would otherwise be our limits. We blame guns, we blame a violent, impersonalized society, we blame the behavior and thinking of others. We rarely include ourselves among the guilty and complicit in perpetuating evil.
The psalmist blames this current evil on outside forces. At the same time, the psalmist is aware that evil is as close as worship companions. Evil does not visit; it lives with and within us. We can inflict evil on outsiders by depersonalizing them. We can inflict evil on our companions because we know where they are vulnerable. We can inflict evil on ourselves by denying our capacity for evil.
As we place ourselves in the hands of God for protection, it is important to place our whole selves into God’s hands. Even as we are injured by the actions of adversaries and companions, we do well to give God our own capacity for violence and evil. As we give ourselves to God we can be sustained, saved and healed in God’s presence.
December 17, 2012
Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 23, 2012
Psalm 55
1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my supplication.
2 Attend to me, and answer me; I am troubled in my complaint. I am distraught
3 by the noise of the enemy, because of the clamor of the wicked. For they bring trouble upon me, and in anger they cherish enmity against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me, the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.
6 And I say, "O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;
7 truly, I would flee far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; (Selah)
8 I would hurry to find a shelter for myself from the raging wind and tempest."
9 Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech; for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.
12 It is not enemies who taunt me— I could bear that; it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me— I could hide from them.
13 But it is you, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend,
14 with whom I kept pleasant company; we walked in the house of God with the throng.
15 Let death come upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol; for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.
16 But I call upon God, and the LORD will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he will hear my voice.
18 He will redeem me unharmed from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.
19 God, who is enthroned from of old, (Selah) will hear, and will humble them— because they do not change, and do not fear God.
20 My companion laid hands on a friend and violated a covenant with me
21 with speech smoother than butter, but with a heart set on war; with words that were softer than oil, but in fact were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, O God, will cast them down into the lowest pit; the bloodthirsty and treacherous shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.
(NRSV)
I used the phrase ‘unspeakable evil’ to describe recent events. At some point it dawned on me that the concept in the phrase may be a part of the problem, and has been since the time of the psalms. When we refuse to speak of evil, it has free reign in our hearts and lives. When we refuse to acknowledge the possibility that we, that I, have the capacity for evil, we find and make ways to justify our own actions so that others can be blamed. As long as we can find a way to see ourselves as not guilty we can justify thoughts and actions beyond what would otherwise be our limits. We blame guns, we blame a violent, impersonalized society, we blame the behavior and thinking of others. We rarely include ourselves among the guilty and complicit in perpetuating evil.
The psalmist blames this current evil on outside forces. At the same time, the psalmist is aware that evil is as close as worship companions. Evil does not visit; it lives with and within us. We can inflict evil on outsiders by depersonalizing them. We can inflict evil on our companions because we know where they are vulnerable. We can inflict evil on ourselves by denying our capacity for evil.
As we place ourselves in the hands of God for protection, it is important to place our whole selves into God’s hands. Even as we are injured by the actions of adversaries and companions, we do well to give God our own capacity for violence and evil. As we give ourselves to God we can be sustained, saved and healed in God’s presence.
December 17, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Psalm Meditation 652
Third Sunday of Advent
December 16, 2012
Psalm 25
1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
6 Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!
8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
11 For your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12 Who are they that fear the LORD? He will teach them the way that they should choose.
13 They will abide in prosperity, and their children shall possess the land.
14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 O guard my life, and deliver me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all its troubles.
(NRSV)
For whose benefit do we ask God to forget our sins and shower us with steadfast love? It is certainly not a reminder needed by God. It is a part of who God is to love us beyond our deserving and to forgive us when we wander or run away from the ways of God. It must be out of our own insecurities and our leaning toward projecting ourselves on to God. It is part of our human nature to expect others to think and act in ways similar to our own. So we ask God to forget our sins and to remember to shower us with love because our habit toward others is the opposite.
If 99 people give us compliments and one person gives us complaint and criticism, most of us will remember the one who had something critical to say. Since that is our own process, we will expect God to react the same way. God is not like us. God encourages and prods us to move toward being like God in many ways, including being quick to forgive and ready to love folks. God forgives and loves, not because we deserve it, rather because God chooses to forgive and love.
As we take refuge in God, put ourselves more often and more closely in the presence of God, we discover that we are becoming more and more like God. We find ourselves willing to forgive and love those who don’t ask for or deserve that kind of treatment from us. We will get mistreated and folks will take advantage of us and we will continue to choose love and forgiveness because that is who we are becoming and who God always is. And God relieves the troubles of our hearts and brings us out of our distress whether the reality of our situation changes or not.
December 10, 2012
Third Sunday of Advent
December 16, 2012
Psalm 25
1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
6 Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!
8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
11 For your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12 Who are they that fear the LORD? He will teach them the way that they should choose.
13 They will abide in prosperity, and their children shall possess the land.
14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 O guard my life, and deliver me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all its troubles.
(NRSV)
For whose benefit do we ask God to forget our sins and shower us with steadfast love? It is certainly not a reminder needed by God. It is a part of who God is to love us beyond our deserving and to forgive us when we wander or run away from the ways of God. It must be out of our own insecurities and our leaning toward projecting ourselves on to God. It is part of our human nature to expect others to think and act in ways similar to our own. So we ask God to forget our sins and to remember to shower us with love because our habit toward others is the opposite.
If 99 people give us compliments and one person gives us complaint and criticism, most of us will remember the one who had something critical to say. Since that is our own process, we will expect God to react the same way. God is not like us. God encourages and prods us to move toward being like God in many ways, including being quick to forgive and ready to love folks. God forgives and loves, not because we deserve it, rather because God chooses to forgive and love.
As we take refuge in God, put ourselves more often and more closely in the presence of God, we discover that we are becoming more and more like God. We find ourselves willing to forgive and love those who don’t ask for or deserve that kind of treatment from us. We will get mistreated and folks will take advantage of us and we will continue to choose love and forgiveness because that is who we are becoming and who God always is. And God relieves the troubles of our hearts and brings us out of our distress whether the reality of our situation changes or not.
December 10, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Psalm Meditation 651
Second Sunday of Advent
December 9, 2012
Psalm 144
1 Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;
2 my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under me.
3 O LORD, what are human beings that you regard them, or mortals that you think of them?
4 They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow.
5 Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke.
6 Make the lightning flash and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them.
7 Stretch out your hand from on high; set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hand of aliens,
8 whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false.
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
10 the one who gives victory to kings, who rescues his servant David.
11 Rescue me from the cruel sword, and deliver me from the hand of aliens, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false.
12 May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace.
13 May our barns be filled, with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields,
14 and may our cattle be heavy with young. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets.
15 Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the LORD.
(NRSV)
Early in ministry I was advised to pick the battles in which I was willing to die and to fight them to the death. It is a helpful reminder that not every battle is worth fighting, and that the ones worth fighting are the ones in which I am willing to give my all. I have also discovered that some battles that seemed of great importance at the beginning are not nearly as important as they seemed once the first blood has been drawn. Battle imagery makes a useful metaphor.
While the psalmist may be preparing for an actual battle with swords and real blood, we can use the battle imagery as a way of thinking about the conflicts in our lives. If this were a physical battle would I be as invested in fighting and winning as I am in a battle of wits and words? If I actually lost my life in this would it have been worth it? Am I really interested in this issue or do I like to win? Am I in this battle at the direction of God or is it an interesting distraction? These and other questions are important as we choose our battles.
Whether our battles are physical or metaphoric, it is good to know that God is with us. In some battles God gives us the strength to stand and fight, in others God gives us the sense to turn and walk away. The important part is to know that God is with us. Whether we win or lose, we are in the presence of God who loves us and blesses us in countless ways.
December 3, 2012
Second Sunday of Advent
December 9, 2012
Psalm 144
1 Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;
2 my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under me.
3 O LORD, what are human beings that you regard them, or mortals that you think of them?
4 They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow.
5 Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke.
6 Make the lightning flash and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them.
7 Stretch out your hand from on high; set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hand of aliens,
8 whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false.
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
10 the one who gives victory to kings, who rescues his servant David.
11 Rescue me from the cruel sword, and deliver me from the hand of aliens, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false.
12 May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace.
13 May our barns be filled, with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields,
14 and may our cattle be heavy with young. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets.
15 Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the LORD.
(NRSV)
Early in ministry I was advised to pick the battles in which I was willing to die and to fight them to the death. It is a helpful reminder that not every battle is worth fighting, and that the ones worth fighting are the ones in which I am willing to give my all. I have also discovered that some battles that seemed of great importance at the beginning are not nearly as important as they seemed once the first blood has been drawn. Battle imagery makes a useful metaphor.
While the psalmist may be preparing for an actual battle with swords and real blood, we can use the battle imagery as a way of thinking about the conflicts in our lives. If this were a physical battle would I be as invested in fighting and winning as I am in a battle of wits and words? If I actually lost my life in this would it have been worth it? Am I really interested in this issue or do I like to win? Am I in this battle at the direction of God or is it an interesting distraction? These and other questions are important as we choose our battles.
Whether our battles are physical or metaphoric, it is good to know that God is with us. In some battles God gives us the strength to stand and fight, in others God gives us the sense to turn and walk away. The important part is to know that God is with us. Whether we win or lose, we are in the presence of God who loves us and blesses us in countless ways.
December 3, 2012
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