Psalm Meditation 715
Transfiguration
March 2, 2014
Psalm 106:1-13,43-48
1 Praise the LORD! O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Who can utter the mighty doings of the LORD, or declare all his praise?
3 Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times.
4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people; help me when you deliver them;
5 that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory in your heritage.
6 Both we and our ancestors have sinned; we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.
7 Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wonderful works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, so that he might make known his mighty power.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry; he led them through the deep as through a desert.
10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe, and delivered them from the hand of the enemy.
11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left.
12 Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.
43 Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes,
and were brought low through their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless he regarded their distress when he heard their cry.
45 For their sake he remembered his covenant, and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
46 He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive.
47 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
48 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)
The history of salvation is long and repetitive. God saves us and we wander off to do our own thing our own way. We figure we know better than God what is good for us and we go on our merry way to do those things. It’s all fun until we get ourselves into a situation beyond our ability. We cry out for God, who comes to pull us out. We make a promise that we will stay faithful this time, no matter what. God smiles and nods, knowing that we are going to be faithful until the next shiny thing comes along to draw our attention from our promised faithfulness. We know that God is annoyed with us as we wander off, however since we promised to be faithful this time, we don’t want to let God know that we are off the path until we are so far off we can’t possibly get back on our own.
Interestingly, God knows all this. God has been at this salvation history stuff a lot longer than any individual generation has been wandering, promising, calling and promising once more. I am guessing that it is nearly amusing to God that each generation follows the same pattern. In an early seminary class, the professor told us that churches go about ministry all wrong. We put young pups in charge of youth and wait until those same folks are older to have them working with older adults. It should be the other way around. A young pastor should work with older adults, senior citizens, so that when things go wrong the folks can assure the pastor that it is not the end of the world. Learn from this one and move on to the next mistake/learning experience. When those pastors get to be 30 and beyond, they work with youth, so that when things go wrong we can assure those youth that it is not the end of the world. God is the older, more mature person in this, who knows that our wanderings are not the end of the world and that someone might learn something through this.
For our part, there are folks who in each generation who find a way to be faithful. They are the ones who pray for us, who remind us that we are not the first to break a promise to God, who encourage us to cry out to for God way earlier than we actually do. We don’t usually listen to those wise, faithful folks, because we know that we are the first to ever wander this far away from God, so we can’t possibly be worthy of any of God’s care and concern.
And through it all God continues to love us, to invite us back into the fold of faithfulness, to come striding into the midst of our wanderings to guide us gently, safely back. Whether we have stepped one foot off the path or have run headlong into pain, danger or both, God is with us. Yes, it would be wonderful if we could spend a full generation following faithfully, and it may happen someday. In this generation, know that the love of God, the presence of God is with us no matter what.
February 24, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Psalm Meditation 714
Seventh Sunday After Epiphany
February 23, 2014
Psalm 45
1 My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
2 You are the most handsome of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and majesty.
4 In your majesty ride on victoriously for the cause of truth and to defend the right; let your right hand teach you dread deeds.
5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity;
7 you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
10 Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him;
12 the people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people
13 with all kinds of wealth. The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes;
14 in many-colored robes she is led to the king; behind her the virgins, her companions, follow.
15 With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.
16 In the place of ancestors you, O king, shall have sons; you will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever.
(NRSV)
Is this heartfelt praise of a king, is it flattery in order to get a favor from the king, is it a combination of the two or is it a made to order psalm for a king whose ego needs a boost? Whatever the purpose, it is flowery and far reaching. What if we could bring ourselves to sing the praises of our own leaders in this kind of language, even when we disagree with the policies and politics those leaders follow? I do find it interesting that in the US, in this particular political climate, we see leaders in our party as God chosen, God ordained leaders while the people of the other party, elected by the same process and at the same time, are seen as evil usurpers drawing this country ever deeper into Hell. The same person is described as a hero and a villain, depending on the party of the person speaking.
Would it make a difference in our current political climate if we made it a point to look for positive characteristics in the people with whom we disagree? A friend described looking down from the gallery of the two houses of Congress in Washington and seeing that folks of both parties were intent on doing the best they possibly could for the sake of the people they represented. I am tempted to make all sorts of excuses as to why that is no longer the case, however, I imagine that most of the people who represent us continue to feel that way most of the time. What if we made it a point to look for positive characteristics in the people with whom we disagree?
This psalm is about a king, a person who held absolute power of any and all of the people in the nation. With that being the case, it is easy to see why anyone would sing the praises of that kind of person. One of the great gifts we have in the United States is the freedom of speech, the ability to disagree with anyone, including the nation’s leaders. As long as we don’t threaten the well-being of others we can say almost anything. That does not mean that there are not consequences to our words and actions, only that we can speak freely.
What if we made it a point to disagree with folks with civility and to look for positive points in the views of those with whom we disagree? What if we listened to the views of others rather than running roughshod over them because of party, race, gender or any other point of difference we might have with them? What if we made it a point to honor God with our words and actions rather than feeling as we had to come to God’s defense in every question of policy and politics? What if God is pleased when we learn something from the folks with whom we disagree? What if God loves each one of us, even the folks who are not like us?
February 17, 2014
Seventh Sunday After Epiphany
February 23, 2014
Psalm 45
1 My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
2 You are the most handsome of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and majesty.
4 In your majesty ride on victoriously for the cause of truth and to defend the right; let your right hand teach you dread deeds.
5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity;
7 you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
10 Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him;
12 the people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people
13 with all kinds of wealth. The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes;
14 in many-colored robes she is led to the king; behind her the virgins, her companions, follow.
15 With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.
16 In the place of ancestors you, O king, shall have sons; you will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever.
(NRSV)
Is this heartfelt praise of a king, is it flattery in order to get a favor from the king, is it a combination of the two or is it a made to order psalm for a king whose ego needs a boost? Whatever the purpose, it is flowery and far reaching. What if we could bring ourselves to sing the praises of our own leaders in this kind of language, even when we disagree with the policies and politics those leaders follow? I do find it interesting that in the US, in this particular political climate, we see leaders in our party as God chosen, God ordained leaders while the people of the other party, elected by the same process and at the same time, are seen as evil usurpers drawing this country ever deeper into Hell. The same person is described as a hero and a villain, depending on the party of the person speaking.
Would it make a difference in our current political climate if we made it a point to look for positive characteristics in the people with whom we disagree? A friend described looking down from the gallery of the two houses of Congress in Washington and seeing that folks of both parties were intent on doing the best they possibly could for the sake of the people they represented. I am tempted to make all sorts of excuses as to why that is no longer the case, however, I imagine that most of the people who represent us continue to feel that way most of the time. What if we made it a point to look for positive characteristics in the people with whom we disagree?
This psalm is about a king, a person who held absolute power of any and all of the people in the nation. With that being the case, it is easy to see why anyone would sing the praises of that kind of person. One of the great gifts we have in the United States is the freedom of speech, the ability to disagree with anyone, including the nation’s leaders. As long as we don’t threaten the well-being of others we can say almost anything. That does not mean that there are not consequences to our words and actions, only that we can speak freely.
What if we made it a point to disagree with folks with civility and to look for positive points in the views of those with whom we disagree? What if we listened to the views of others rather than running roughshod over them because of party, race, gender or any other point of difference we might have with them? What if we made it a point to honor God with our words and actions rather than feeling as we had to come to God’s defense in every question of policy and politics? What if God is pleased when we learn something from the folks with whom we disagree? What if God loves each one of us, even the folks who are not like us?
February 17, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
Psalm Meditation 713
Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
February 16, 2014
Psalm 95
1 O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice!
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.”
11 Therefore in my anger I swore, “They shall not enter my rest.”
(NRSV)
We learn how to live and behave from those who have gone before us. Sometimes we learn what to do and other times we learn what we would rather not do. This psalm is coaching us in what not to do in our relationship with God. At Meribah and Massah the people asked for more than they needed. They didn’t just want water, they wanted proof that the water came from God. They could have stumbled on water accidently so they wanted to know that they had received this water directly from God. It didn’t dawn on them that even found water would be a gift from God.
It is one thing to put our faith to the test, it is pushing things farther yet to put God to the test. When we test our faith, we look for the presence of God in a difficult situation. The presence of God may not be immediately discernible in every situation, so we have to look more deeply with the eyes of faith. God may be calling us to something more pleasant or to something more difficult yet. It is up to us to find the call of God in the situation. When we are putting God to the test our question is not, ‘how is God present?’ so much as, ‘Is God present?’ We ask God for some kind of proof of divine existence or presence.
Do we want to live as the psalmist calls us to live in the first several verses or do we want to live as the folks at Meribah and Massah? It may not seem like much of a choice. What makes sense in theory is not always the way things come out in practice. It is so much easier to see God at work when all is going well for us. When things get rough we find ourselves questioning everything, including the presence and existence of God. Still the psalmist invites and encourages us to see the handiwork of God as a reminder that God was and is at work in the world and in our lives.
February 10, 2014
Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
February 16, 2014
Psalm 95
1 O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice!
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.”
11 Therefore in my anger I swore, “They shall not enter my rest.”
(NRSV)
We learn how to live and behave from those who have gone before us. Sometimes we learn what to do and other times we learn what we would rather not do. This psalm is coaching us in what not to do in our relationship with God. At Meribah and Massah the people asked for more than they needed. They didn’t just want water, they wanted proof that the water came from God. They could have stumbled on water accidently so they wanted to know that they had received this water directly from God. It didn’t dawn on them that even found water would be a gift from God.
It is one thing to put our faith to the test, it is pushing things farther yet to put God to the test. When we test our faith, we look for the presence of God in a difficult situation. The presence of God may not be immediately discernible in every situation, so we have to look more deeply with the eyes of faith. God may be calling us to something more pleasant or to something more difficult yet. It is up to us to find the call of God in the situation. When we are putting God to the test our question is not, ‘how is God present?’ so much as, ‘Is God present?’ We ask God for some kind of proof of divine existence or presence.
Do we want to live as the psalmist calls us to live in the first several verses or do we want to live as the folks at Meribah and Massah? It may not seem like much of a choice. What makes sense in theory is not always the way things come out in practice. It is so much easier to see God at work when all is going well for us. When things get rough we find ourselves questioning everything, including the presence and existence of God. Still the psalmist invites and encourages us to see the handiwork of God as a reminder that God was and is at work in the world and in our lives.
February 10, 2014
Monday, February 3, 2014
Psalm Meditation 712
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
February 9, 2014
Psalm 6
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
3 My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O LORD—how long?
4 Turn, O LORD, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?
6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my supplication; the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.
(NRSV)
Oh, to have that much faith to be able to end a prayer of lament with this kind of statement of trust in God. I know there are such people who can pray and know immediately that their prayer has been answered, only because I have read about them. The rest of us content ourselves with praying multiple times for the same thing over the span of moments or years. At some point the assurance that prayer has been answered and that God is present comes to us in some form. The question often is, how do I keep my faith while I wait for that assurance?
One way is by finding psalms like this and using them as a part of our prayer life. Sometimes, praying the psalms is enough to boost our faith to where we begin to hear the words as our own as well as those of the psalmist. After having said something over and over again we begin to claim it as our own, incorporate it into our lives and allow it to change us. This doesn’t mean that we will get to a place in our faith in which we instantly know that we are heard and loved by God; it doesn’t mean we won’t. For most of us, we will get to where we know, finally, that God is with us.
I am convinced that God hears us and is present with us in all times, places and situations. I know that we are not always in a position to experience the presence of God in our lives. If we can look right at a physical object and not see it, we can certainly miss the presence of God in our lives. Fortunately, many of us have folks who will help us find lost objects and who will help us see, feel, know and experience the presence of God in and around us. We will be able to join the psalmist in saying, “The LORD has heard my supplication; the LORD accepts my prayer.”
February 3, 2014
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
February 9, 2014
Psalm 6
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
3 My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O LORD—how long?
4 Turn, O LORD, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?
6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my supplication; the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.
(NRSV)
Oh, to have that much faith to be able to end a prayer of lament with this kind of statement of trust in God. I know there are such people who can pray and know immediately that their prayer has been answered, only because I have read about them. The rest of us content ourselves with praying multiple times for the same thing over the span of moments or years. At some point the assurance that prayer has been answered and that God is present comes to us in some form. The question often is, how do I keep my faith while I wait for that assurance?
One way is by finding psalms like this and using them as a part of our prayer life. Sometimes, praying the psalms is enough to boost our faith to where we begin to hear the words as our own as well as those of the psalmist. After having said something over and over again we begin to claim it as our own, incorporate it into our lives and allow it to change us. This doesn’t mean that we will get to a place in our faith in which we instantly know that we are heard and loved by God; it doesn’t mean we won’t. For most of us, we will get to where we know, finally, that God is with us.
I am convinced that God hears us and is present with us in all times, places and situations. I know that we are not always in a position to experience the presence of God in our lives. If we can look right at a physical object and not see it, we can certainly miss the presence of God in our lives. Fortunately, many of us have folks who will help us find lost objects and who will help us see, feel, know and experience the presence of God in and around us. We will be able to join the psalmist in saying, “The LORD has heard my supplication; the LORD accepts my prayer.”
February 3, 2014
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