Psalm Meditation 711
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
February 2, 2014
Psalm 146
1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.
5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.
9 The LORD watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)
It is easier to depend on someone we can see, to follow someone whose path we can track with our senses, than it is to follow God. When we disagree with the direction we are going it is still easier to follow a human being. When we are following to make it easier to find fault with those in the lead it is easier to follow a person. When we are being compelled to follow by show of force it is easier to follow a person. The easy way is not always the faithful way.
The way of God leads to justice, even when it does not include fairness. The way of God leads to freedom, even when folks live it out in ways with which we disagree. The way of God leads to helping those who need help even when they don’t deserve it. The way of God leads to meeting people as brothers and sisters rather than as strangers. The way of God leads to an end of wickedness even when we are found among the wicked. The way of God leads to the reign of God.
Comforting as it is to follow the ins and outs of a group of people, it does not always lead us in a helpful, hopeful direction. Humans have a way of twisting and turning things in such a way that we follow willingly at first and by the time we realize we are headed away from our goal we are already sliding out of control. The good thing is, that God has a way of changing our direction. It is never an easy route to go from following the crowd to following God. However, it is possible. Praise the LORD.
January 27, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
Monday, January 20, 2014
Psalm Meditation 710
Third Sunday After Epiphany
January 26, 2014
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)
More than once I have listened to friends as they carried on conversations like this psalm. The person jumped back and forth between talking to me and praying. It sounds a lot like the conversations that often go on in our heads as we skip from one subject to another attempting to come to grips with a difficult matter. The psalmist is being worn down by the whole scope of evil in and around the city. It is often the case that when one is deeply troubled by one thing, everything else also wears at nerves. Senses are heightened and the slightest noise seems to cut through from both sides and explode in the middle of one’s head. A touch feels as if a hammer blow has fallen. A slight feels the same as betrayal. The best intentions of those who offer comfort are received as anything but comforting.
In all that calamity, folks find themselves turning to God as a source of comfort and constancy. Since God is not bound by the constraints of the physical, emotional, psychological limits of the people around us, we can rattle and ramble on with the assurance that God can pick out the parts of our conversation that apply to various groups and people. With the help of God’s listening ear we can begin to sort out the various conversations, we can quiet the inner noises so the external noises are no longer as grating, we can put our helpful defenses back in place and begin to rejoin the rest of the world.
And through it all, God is both intimately present in our lives, letting us know that we are heard and loved, and God is powerfully arching over all of creation, keeping watch over all that is. We are given the dual comforts that God is deeply involved in the smallest details of my current situation and that God is big enough and broad enough to deal with those tiny details as well as the whole of the universe, all at the same time. We may feel overwhelmed by the weight of our particular world, however God is present with us to help us as we carry that load.
January 20, 2014
Third Sunday After Epiphany
January 26, 2014
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)
More than once I have listened to friends as they carried on conversations like this psalm. The person jumped back and forth between talking to me and praying. It sounds a lot like the conversations that often go on in our heads as we skip from one subject to another attempting to come to grips with a difficult matter. The psalmist is being worn down by the whole scope of evil in and around the city. It is often the case that when one is deeply troubled by one thing, everything else also wears at nerves. Senses are heightened and the slightest noise seems to cut through from both sides and explode in the middle of one’s head. A touch feels as if a hammer blow has fallen. A slight feels the same as betrayal. The best intentions of those who offer comfort are received as anything but comforting.
In all that calamity, folks find themselves turning to God as a source of comfort and constancy. Since God is not bound by the constraints of the physical, emotional, psychological limits of the people around us, we can rattle and ramble on with the assurance that God can pick out the parts of our conversation that apply to various groups and people. With the help of God’s listening ear we can begin to sort out the various conversations, we can quiet the inner noises so the external noises are no longer as grating, we can put our helpful defenses back in place and begin to rejoin the rest of the world.
And through it all, God is both intimately present in our lives, letting us know that we are heard and loved, and God is powerfully arching over all of creation, keeping watch over all that is. We are given the dual comforts that God is deeply involved in the smallest details of my current situation and that God is big enough and broad enough to deal with those tiny details as well as the whole of the universe, all at the same time. We may feel overwhelmed by the weight of our particular world, however God is present with us to help us as we carry that load.
January 20, 2014
Monday, January 13, 2014
Psalm Meditation 709
Second Sunday After Epiphany
January 19, 2014
Psalm 105
1 O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works.
3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually.
5 Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered,
6 O offspring of his servant Abraham, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He is mindful of his covenant forever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,
10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.”
12 When they were few in number, of little account, and strangers in it,
13 wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account,
15 saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”
16 When he summoned famine against the land, and broke every staff of bread,
17 he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of iron;
19 until what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD kept testing him.
20 The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free.
21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions,
22 to instruct his officials at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
24 And the LORD made his people very fruitful, and made them stronger than their foes,
25 whose hearts he then turned to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses, and Aaron whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them, and miracles in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made the land dark; they rebelled against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood, and caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.
32 He gave them hail for rain, and lightning that flashed through their land.
33 He struck their vines and fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came, and young locusts without number;
35 they devoured all the vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the first issue of all their strength.
37 Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night.
40 They asked, and he brought quails, and gave them food from heaven in abundance.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.
42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.
43 So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.
44 He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,
45 that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)
In an account of history, the important events are highlighted and lifted out. For many groups, the list includes the wonderful things we have done. In this list, the important events are the things that God has done. It was God who sent Joseph ahead to make provision for the people of Egypt and the people of God. It was God who used Moses and Aaron to secure the freedom of the chosen people through plagues visited on Egypt. It was God who led folks in their return to the land they had been given by God. In this psalm, the important details are not about the people because it is God who moves the action forward in each situation.
How would our lives and histories be different if we made the effort to see God at work in us rather than listing our own accomplishments? I don’t mean mentioning God before mentioning all the great things we have done, I mean seeing how God has been at work in our lives. That might mean noticing that we have not always gone in the directions God would have chosen for us, noticing that we have made choices based on selfish motives rather than on what God has called us to be or do. We might notice that as we made selfish choices the work of God went on without us until we made the choices God pointed to.
God provides for us and invites us to receive those provisions. This psalm ends with God providing a place where, “they might keep his statutes and observe his laws.” We know that didn’t always happen. It serves as a reminder that God does not force us to accept, receive or follow any of the laws or providence offered to us. God lovingly invites us to participate in the way of life offered to us. There are not a lot of promises or strings attached to the invitation. Following God is its own reward.
January 13, 2014
Second Sunday After Epiphany
January 19, 2014
Psalm 105
1 O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works.
3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually.
5 Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered,
6 O offspring of his servant Abraham, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He is mindful of his covenant forever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,
10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.”
12 When they were few in number, of little account, and strangers in it,
13 wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account,
15 saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”
16 When he summoned famine against the land, and broke every staff of bread,
17 he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of iron;
19 until what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD kept testing him.
20 The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free.
21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions,
22 to instruct his officials at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
24 And the LORD made his people very fruitful, and made them stronger than their foes,
25 whose hearts he then turned to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses, and Aaron whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them, and miracles in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made the land dark; they rebelled against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood, and caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.
32 He gave them hail for rain, and lightning that flashed through their land.
33 He struck their vines and fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came, and young locusts without number;
35 they devoured all the vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the first issue of all their strength.
37 Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night.
40 They asked, and he brought quails, and gave them food from heaven in abundance.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.
42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.
43 So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.
44 He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,
45 that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)
In an account of history, the important events are highlighted and lifted out. For many groups, the list includes the wonderful things we have done. In this list, the important events are the things that God has done. It was God who sent Joseph ahead to make provision for the people of Egypt and the people of God. It was God who used Moses and Aaron to secure the freedom of the chosen people through plagues visited on Egypt. It was God who led folks in their return to the land they had been given by God. In this psalm, the important details are not about the people because it is God who moves the action forward in each situation.
How would our lives and histories be different if we made the effort to see God at work in us rather than listing our own accomplishments? I don’t mean mentioning God before mentioning all the great things we have done, I mean seeing how God has been at work in our lives. That might mean noticing that we have not always gone in the directions God would have chosen for us, noticing that we have made choices based on selfish motives rather than on what God has called us to be or do. We might notice that as we made selfish choices the work of God went on without us until we made the choices God pointed to.
God provides for us and invites us to receive those provisions. This psalm ends with God providing a place where, “they might keep his statutes and observe his laws.” We know that didn’t always happen. It serves as a reminder that God does not force us to accept, receive or follow any of the laws or providence offered to us. God lovingly invites us to participate in the way of life offered to us. There are not a lot of promises or strings attached to the invitation. Following God is its own reward.
January 13, 2014
Monday, January 6, 2014
Psalm Meditation 708
First Sunday After Epiphany
January 12, 2014
Psalm 46
46
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD; see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
(NRSV)
At some point we each make a New Year’s resolution or two. And the next year we make the same resolution with the resolve that we will do it better and longer than we did the year before. If only we are tougher with ourselves and pushed longer and harder, we will actually accomplish what we set out to do. I imagine there are folks who can actually live out their resolutions, the rest of us are doomed to years of frustration until we give up making resolutions altogether. Many of us do that in our religious life as well. If only we try harder we can keep from sinning as we have in the past. And it never works.
It isn’t until we realize that God is our refuge and strength that we are able to make progress and move forward. Like any other accountability partner it is not God who makes the changes or does the work for us. We still have to do the work ourselves. Knowing that God is with us, offering us a safe environment for change and the strength to do, makes a lot of difference. From the vantage point of the presence of God many of the challenges that lie before us seem less intimidating. The presence of God is not magic, we still have to make the effort to grow and change. The presence of God is loving and supporting, calling us to move forward rather than to fall back into previous practices and habits.
Sometimes all we need to do is be still and know that God is with us, that God chooses to be with us. Knowing that someone loves us as we are, encourages us to grow in good and helpful ways makes a great deal of difference in how we live our lives. When all around us is unsettled we look to God who continues to stand firm in the face of all that comes our way. Take comfort in God and in the people who dwell in the presence of God.
January 6, 2014
First Sunday After Epiphany
January 12, 2014
Psalm 46
46
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD; see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
(NRSV)
At some point we each make a New Year’s resolution or two. And the next year we make the same resolution with the resolve that we will do it better and longer than we did the year before. If only we are tougher with ourselves and pushed longer and harder, we will actually accomplish what we set out to do. I imagine there are folks who can actually live out their resolutions, the rest of us are doomed to years of frustration until we give up making resolutions altogether. Many of us do that in our religious life as well. If only we try harder we can keep from sinning as we have in the past. And it never works.
It isn’t until we realize that God is our refuge and strength that we are able to make progress and move forward. Like any other accountability partner it is not God who makes the changes or does the work for us. We still have to do the work ourselves. Knowing that God is with us, offering us a safe environment for change and the strength to do, makes a lot of difference. From the vantage point of the presence of God many of the challenges that lie before us seem less intimidating. The presence of God is not magic, we still have to make the effort to grow and change. The presence of God is loving and supporting, calling us to move forward rather than to fall back into previous practices and habits.
Sometimes all we need to do is be still and know that God is with us, that God chooses to be with us. Knowing that someone loves us as we are, encourages us to grow in good and helpful ways makes a great deal of difference in how we live our lives. When all around us is unsettled we look to God who continues to stand firm in the face of all that comes our way. Take comfort in God and in the people who dwell in the presence of God.
January 6, 2014
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