Psalm Meditation 685
Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 4, 2013
Psalm 101
1 I will sing of loyalty and of justice; to you, O LORD, I will sing.
2 I will study the way that is blameless. When shall I attain it? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;
3 I will not set before my eyes anything that is base. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.
4 Perverseness of heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.
5 One who secretly slanders a neighbor I will destroy. A haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not tolerate.
6 I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, so that they may live with me; whoever walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me.
7 No one who practices deceit shall remain in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue in my presence.
8 Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all evildoers from the city of the LORD.
(NRSV)
In a culture in which everything can be turned into a competition, this psalm begins as the rules of a contest. While it doesn’t say it, I find myself reading in the rest of the sentence, ‘and I will do it better than anyone else.’ Not only will I do all of these things better, I am willing to do them at the expense of everyone else as well. Not only will I destroy those who don’t follow the rules I will destroy those who don’t follow as closely or as well as I do. I will be the last one standing and I will be the favorite of God.
And then the psalmist gets to verse 6. “I will look with favor on the faithful of the land, so that they may live with me;…” I lose the focus on competition and see one who is striving toward a quality of life in which any number of folks may share as they desire. The emphasis continues to be on living a life of quality in the presence of God even as the focus shifts from a solitary pursuit to a striving together toward a goal of community excellence based in a strong relationship with God and with each other.
While it may not take much to get competitive juices flowing, the psalmist reminds us that there is another way. We can work together, encouraging and building each other up so that we grow toward God in a way that flies in the face of the competitive urge within us. Instead of having to be the best we can be our best. As we strive together, learning from and teaching those around us, we will build up a community based on relationships rather than on competition.
July 29, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
Psalm Meditation 684
Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 28, 2013
Psalm 50
1 The mighty one, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
3 Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him.
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge.Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house, or goats from your folds.
10 For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all that is in it is mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes, or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.
18 You make friends with a thief when you see one, and you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your kin; you slander your own mother’s child.
21 These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.
22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver.
23 Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
(NRSV)
There are times for each of us in which we simply go through the motions of worship or some other act of service. Our hearts are not in it. A part of us wants to join in this act of worship with the whole congregation and another part wants to be doing something else. Even as we resent having to make this particular sacrifice at this particular time, we find ourselves drawn in to be with the people of God. In addition to times of worship we may feel the dual pull to perform an act of ministry, service or mission even as we wonder if we are actually helping this person or group by our activity. This psalm is not about those times.
This psalm is about the people who go through the motions with no intention of being touched or changed by having done these things. It is for show and nothing more. It is going through the motions to give them license to do what they would rather be doing the rest of the week. There probably aren’t as many of this kind of people as we want to believe. Yes, there are those who compartmentalize their lives, who believe that faith and worship are one thing and the rest of life is separate from worship and faith practices. They are sincere in their worship, it simply doesn’t touch the rest of their daily activity.
We are invited to bring thankful hearts into the presence of God. Yes, God is present in all of life, however there are places and times in which we are more attuned to God’s presence. God invites us to bring thankfulness into those times as an acknowledgment of the salvation God offers and gives.
July 22, 2013
Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 28, 2013
Psalm 50
1 The mighty one, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
3 Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him.
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge.Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house, or goats from your folds.
10 For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all that is in it is mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes, or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.
18 You make friends with a thief when you see one, and you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your kin; you slander your own mother’s child.
21 These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.
22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver.
23 Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
(NRSV)
There are times for each of us in which we simply go through the motions of worship or some other act of service. Our hearts are not in it. A part of us wants to join in this act of worship with the whole congregation and another part wants to be doing something else. Even as we resent having to make this particular sacrifice at this particular time, we find ourselves drawn in to be with the people of God. In addition to times of worship we may feel the dual pull to perform an act of ministry, service or mission even as we wonder if we are actually helping this person or group by our activity. This psalm is not about those times.
This psalm is about the people who go through the motions with no intention of being touched or changed by having done these things. It is for show and nothing more. It is going through the motions to give them license to do what they would rather be doing the rest of the week. There probably aren’t as many of this kind of people as we want to believe. Yes, there are those who compartmentalize their lives, who believe that faith and worship are one thing and the rest of life is separate from worship and faith practices. They are sincere in their worship, it simply doesn’t touch the rest of their daily activity.
We are invited to bring thankful hearts into the presence of God. Yes, God is present in all of life, however there are places and times in which we are more attuned to God’s presence. God invites us to bring thankfulness into those times as an acknowledgment of the salvation God offers and gives.
July 22, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Psalm Meditation 683
Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 21, 2013
Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
(NRSV)
There are times in which we feel as if our emotions control us and there is nothing we can do to make ourselves feel any different than we do at a particular moment. This psalm reminds us that we have control over our actions and that our actions can make a difference in our emotions. In the middle of a bad day, we can lift our mood by singing a song, or dancing a dance, letting the outward expression of joy filter into the innermost parts of our being.
The psalmist doesn’t say we have to feel the joy, we are invited and encouraged to go through the motions with a sense of openness to the presence of God in our lives. It is possible that by being available to God we may find ourselves feeling the joy in the noise we are making. As we feel the joy, even a little bit of it, our worship goes from an outward expression to an inner experience. As our worship becomes heartfelt we know that God seeks out a relationship with us and we find ourselves wanting to draw closer to the presence of God.
Willingly going through the motions of worship will not take us from the depths of despair to the heights of joy. Expressions of joyful worship are likely to help us feel a bit of the joy that is available to us in the presence of God. Knowing that God is with us can lift us up a bit so that we can see that we are not alone, that we are in this together with God.
July 15, 2013
Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 21, 2013
Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
(NRSV)
There are times in which we feel as if our emotions control us and there is nothing we can do to make ourselves feel any different than we do at a particular moment. This psalm reminds us that we have control over our actions and that our actions can make a difference in our emotions. In the middle of a bad day, we can lift our mood by singing a song, or dancing a dance, letting the outward expression of joy filter into the innermost parts of our being.
The psalmist doesn’t say we have to feel the joy, we are invited and encouraged to go through the motions with a sense of openness to the presence of God in our lives. It is possible that by being available to God we may find ourselves feeling the joy in the noise we are making. As we feel the joy, even a little bit of it, our worship goes from an outward expression to an inner experience. As our worship becomes heartfelt we know that God seeks out a relationship with us and we find ourselves wanting to draw closer to the presence of God.
Willingly going through the motions of worship will not take us from the depths of despair to the heights of joy. Expressions of joyful worship are likely to help us feel a bit of the joy that is available to us in the presence of God. Knowing that God is with us can lift us up a bit so that we can see that we are not alone, that we are in this together with God.
July 15, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Psalm Meditation 682
Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 14, 2013
Psalm 1
1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
(NRSV)
What is the advice of the wicked? It would be interesting if it changed from time to time and situation to situation, however it is almost always the same, ‘Take the easy way, the thoughtless way, the selfish way; that’s the way for us to go.’ The way that takes no real effort and reaps instant, high rewards is the wicked way. The risks are usually pretty high, and pretty well hidden, at least at the beginning.
Those the psalmist calls ‘the righteous’ make the effort to discover the will of God, give thought to how best to live that out and put in the time and energy to see that through. The rewards come more slowly and are the kinds of rewards that are held in the heart rather than in the hands or the bank. It takes more effort to get started on the way of righteousness, and in some sense in gets easier as time goes by, as lives are touched and hearts are warmed on a regular basis.
The way of the wicked looks attractive at first and gets uglier as time passes. The way of the righteous looks difficult at first and while some parts get easier as time passes, the continuing challenges to become deeper and broader have a way of keeping things interesting.
July 8, 2013
Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 14, 2013
Psalm 1
1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
(NRSV)
What is the advice of the wicked? It would be interesting if it changed from time to time and situation to situation, however it is almost always the same, ‘Take the easy way, the thoughtless way, the selfish way; that’s the way for us to go.’ The way that takes no real effort and reaps instant, high rewards is the wicked way. The risks are usually pretty high, and pretty well hidden, at least at the beginning.
Those the psalmist calls ‘the righteous’ make the effort to discover the will of God, give thought to how best to live that out and put in the time and energy to see that through. The rewards come more slowly and are the kinds of rewards that are held in the heart rather than in the hands or the bank. It takes more effort to get started on the way of righteousness, and in some sense in gets easier as time goes by, as lives are touched and hearts are warmed on a regular basis.
The way of the wicked looks attractive at first and gets uglier as time passes. The way of the righteous looks difficult at first and while some parts get easier as time passes, the continuing challenges to become deeper and broader have a way of keeping things interesting.
July 8, 2013
Monday, July 1, 2013
meditation 681 (150)
Psalm Meditation 681
Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 7, 2013
Psalm 150
1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that breathes praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)
I sang “Lord of the Dance” at an ecumenical Lenten service many years ago and after the service a member of one of the other congregations told me that the only reason he didn’t walk out of the service as soon as I started singing was out of respect for me. Obviously, he hated the song, especially as it implied that Jesus would do something he thought of as uncomfortable if not downright evil. I started to argue with him that there are several references to dancing in Scripture but he would have none of it. It became easier to thank him for his respect for me than to convince him that while there might be some less than faithful types of dancing, it was not necessary to paint all dancing with the same broad brush.
This final psalm calls us, invites us to use all the resources at our disposal to lift our praises to God. Wind instruments, stringed instruments, percussion instruments as well our bodies can be employed in giving God praise. One of my friends reminds me on a regular basis that each of us does not have the same gifts to be employed in praise. That is, we do not have the freedom to express ourselves in each of these modes of praise. The point of the psalm is to let loose, to the best of our ability, in praising God for all that goes on in and around us because we feel the hand of God upon us. It is also important to recognize the presence of those voices in our heads that keep us from some of these expressions of praise.
The poor guy in the Lenten service had that voice in his head saying that all dance is bad. There are some wonderful expressions of dance as a form of worship, especially in the cultural context of the particular congregation. Whether we are comfortable praising God with dance or not, the psalmist reminds us to give God our praise in the best way we can and to do it with our whole heart, life, being.
July 1, 2013
Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 7, 2013
Psalm 150
1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that breathes praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)
I sang “Lord of the Dance” at an ecumenical Lenten service many years ago and after the service a member of one of the other congregations told me that the only reason he didn’t walk out of the service as soon as I started singing was out of respect for me. Obviously, he hated the song, especially as it implied that Jesus would do something he thought of as uncomfortable if not downright evil. I started to argue with him that there are several references to dancing in Scripture but he would have none of it. It became easier to thank him for his respect for me than to convince him that while there might be some less than faithful types of dancing, it was not necessary to paint all dancing with the same broad brush.
This final psalm calls us, invites us to use all the resources at our disposal to lift our praises to God. Wind instruments, stringed instruments, percussion instruments as well our bodies can be employed in giving God praise. One of my friends reminds me on a regular basis that each of us does not have the same gifts to be employed in praise. That is, we do not have the freedom to express ourselves in each of these modes of praise. The point of the psalm is to let loose, to the best of our ability, in praising God for all that goes on in and around us because we feel the hand of God upon us. It is also important to recognize the presence of those voices in our heads that keep us from some of these expressions of praise.
The poor guy in the Lenten service had that voice in his head saying that all dance is bad. There are some wonderful expressions of dance as a form of worship, especially in the cultural context of the particular congregation. Whether we are comfortable praising God with dance or not, the psalmist reminds us to give God our praise in the best way we can and to do it with our whole heart, life, being.
July 1, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)