Psalm Meditation 759
Second Sunday After Christmas
January 4, 2015
Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
(NRSV)
At our best, we are overwhelmed with thankfulness and it spills out of us. We may have a list of things for which we are grateful; all the ways we have noticed God being good to us. We may become aware that there is so much good going on in and around us that we can’t possibly list it all, so we lift up a ‘thank you’ knowing that it is does not come near to expressing the depth of our gratitude for all that God does and is for us.
In one of those ‘two kinds of people’ distinctions, there are folks who want to be thanked for what they do and folks who want to be thanked for who they are. If you thank them for something in the other category they feel less appreciated than if they are thanked in the area that touches them. God is equally touched by both types of thanks. It may be that God is especially glad when we can move beyond our own comfort zone and thank God for something in the other category.
However we go about it, it is good to make the time to give God thanks. We can present God with a list of things for which we are grateful, we can thank God for being present in our lives or we can mix the two together. Some folks say that God does not need anything from us. While that may be true, God does appreciate our thanks, our praise, our desire to spend time in the presence of God whether we are alone or carry God’s presence with us in every part of our day.
December 29, 2014
LCM
Monday, December 29, 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
Psalm Meditation 758
First Sunday After Christmas
December 28, 2014
Psalm 63
1 O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword, they shall be prey for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
(NRSV)
Every now and then we feel lost and separated from God. In those times we may find ourselves running around desperately searching for some track or trail that will lead us back into the presence of God. It almost seems that the more desperately we search the less likely we are to find any evidence that God is anywhere near us. We forget the advice we give to children, ‘as soon as you realize you are lost, stop so that we can come to you. You will be much easier to find if you stay in one place.’
Once we exit panic mode we can rest quietly, look around and notice that God continues to be present with us. It may be a small and inconspicuous presence but present none the less. Wherever we are when we rediscover that God is with us is likely to become a sacred space, a sanctuary for us. The sense of relief that we are not really, and never have been, alone makes the space where we find ourselves a holy space and life is good. It may be a physical place that becomes holy and it may be an internal space that renews our sense of holiness.
The fears and doubts that have stood as obstacles for us can be brushed aside and left to shrivel and die. The next time doubts and fears rise against us we can resist a bit more readily as we relax and rest into the assurance that while we may be lost, we are not abandoned. The presence of God surrounds us, shadows and shields us even in the times we are least sure of that God is with us. Our seeking and thirsting becomes less agitated and more focused on waiting than on scurrying about as if we can find God by the content of our busy-ness.
December 22, 2014
LCM
First Sunday After Christmas
December 28, 2014
Psalm 63
1 O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword, they shall be prey for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
(NRSV)
Every now and then we feel lost and separated from God. In those times we may find ourselves running around desperately searching for some track or trail that will lead us back into the presence of God. It almost seems that the more desperately we search the less likely we are to find any evidence that God is anywhere near us. We forget the advice we give to children, ‘as soon as you realize you are lost, stop so that we can come to you. You will be much easier to find if you stay in one place.’
Once we exit panic mode we can rest quietly, look around and notice that God continues to be present with us. It may be a small and inconspicuous presence but present none the less. Wherever we are when we rediscover that God is with us is likely to become a sacred space, a sanctuary for us. The sense of relief that we are not really, and never have been, alone makes the space where we find ourselves a holy space and life is good. It may be a physical place that becomes holy and it may be an internal space that renews our sense of holiness.
The fears and doubts that have stood as obstacles for us can be brushed aside and left to shrivel and die. The next time doubts and fears rise against us we can resist a bit more readily as we relax and rest into the assurance that while we may be lost, we are not abandoned. The presence of God surrounds us, shadows and shields us even in the times we are least sure of that God is with us. Our seeking and thirsting becomes less agitated and more focused on waiting than on scurrying about as if we can find God by the content of our busy-ness.
December 22, 2014
LCM
Monday, December 15, 2014
Psalm Meditation 757
Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 21, 2014
Psalm 113
1 Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD; praise the name of the LORD.
2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time on and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised.
4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)
We want to believe that the rich are rich because they deserve it and the poor are poor for the same reason. Some exceptions to this are, if our status changes from rich to poor and if the status of someone we don’t like goes from poor to rich. In that case we are aware that there are outside forces at work in society that have caused this change in economic status. It doesn’t have to be a drastic change, it just has to go the ‘wrong’ way. The events the psalmist envisions would be unnerving to many of us.
It is often the case that the activity of God is unsettling to those of us who say we live by some code of fairness. In one code of fairness hard work leads to great success and riches and laziness leads to destruction and poverty. There are hard working folks in every economic strata and lazy folks right next to them. Fairness is probably not an indicator of the future. The good thing in this psalm is that God raises the poor to sit with princes rather than bringing the rich down to the sit among the poor. In the economy of God, there will be no poverty.
In a culture in which a woman’s sense of meaningfulness was based in her ability to bear and raise children, the psalmist does not leave out women from the society of those who praise and bless God. While our definition of the ideal society may have changed, we continue to know that God is an important part of an excellent life for people of God. To live in the presence of God is to have enough and, at least, a little extra. To live in the presence of God is to have a life of meaning, however one may define it. To live in the presence of God, as women and men of God, is to find times, places and ways to praise and bless God.
December 15, 2014
LCM
Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 21, 2014
Psalm 113
1 Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD; praise the name of the LORD.
2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time on and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised.
4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)
We want to believe that the rich are rich because they deserve it and the poor are poor for the same reason. Some exceptions to this are, if our status changes from rich to poor and if the status of someone we don’t like goes from poor to rich. In that case we are aware that there are outside forces at work in society that have caused this change in economic status. It doesn’t have to be a drastic change, it just has to go the ‘wrong’ way. The events the psalmist envisions would be unnerving to many of us.
It is often the case that the activity of God is unsettling to those of us who say we live by some code of fairness. In one code of fairness hard work leads to great success and riches and laziness leads to destruction and poverty. There are hard working folks in every economic strata and lazy folks right next to them. Fairness is probably not an indicator of the future. The good thing in this psalm is that God raises the poor to sit with princes rather than bringing the rich down to the sit among the poor. In the economy of God, there will be no poverty.
In a culture in which a woman’s sense of meaningfulness was based in her ability to bear and raise children, the psalmist does not leave out women from the society of those who praise and bless God. While our definition of the ideal society may have changed, we continue to know that God is an important part of an excellent life for people of God. To live in the presence of God is to have enough and, at least, a little extra. To live in the presence of God is to have a life of meaning, however one may define it. To live in the presence of God, as women and men of God, is to find times, places and ways to praise and bless God.
December 15, 2014
LCM
Monday, December 8, 2014
Psalm Meditation 756
Third Sunday of Advent
December 14, 2014
Psalm 38
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.
2 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.
5 My wounds grow foul and fester because of my foolishness;
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all day long I go around mourning.
7 For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am utterly spent and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is known to you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me; as for the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction, and my neighbors stand far off.
12 Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin, and meditate treachery all day long.
13 But I am like the deaf, I do not hear; like the mute, who cannot speak.
14 Truly, I am like one who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no retort.
15 But it is for you, O LORD, that I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 For I pray, “Only do not let them rejoice over me, those who boast against me when my foot slips.”
17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me.
18 I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.
19 Those who are my foes without cause are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those who render me evil for good are my adversaries because I follow after good.
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, do not be far from me;
22 make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.
(NRSV)
With a worldview in which God is a despotic ruler, every action has a cost and promise as a direct response from God. If we do well, God gives a reward, a promise. If we do badly, God punishes us, a cost. Here the psalmist is reeling from the effects of a bad course of action. To exact the cost God conscripts others to add to the physical and emotional toll the psalmist must pay. Even friends are wise enough to stay out of the way of the execution of God’s justice. As is often the case, the psalmist claims that this high a price is not in line with the sin being punished. When God is in charge with no room for negotiation there is no choice but to throw ourselves on the mercy of God for our sins.
If, instead, God has given the opportunity for each of us to make our own choices and reap the cost and promise of those actions our view of God can change. In this worldview we are not so much punished for our sin as we are punished by our sin. It is not God who exacts the punishment. God neither causes the reaction to our activity nor protects us from our actions or the actions of others. This frees God to be with us in all times and places. God can rejoice with us and ache with us. It is not God who has changed; our view of the world colors how we experience the presence of God.
Some are reluctant to believe that God is present in any other way than that expressed in Scripture. For them God will always be a distant judge waiting for us to do something that warrants either extra favors or extra punishments. God is one of whom to be afraid. Others are willing to allow our views of God to change as our worldview changes. God continues to be God and we find new and meaningful ways to relate as our perception of what it means to be people of God ebbs and flows.
December 8, 2014
LCM
Third Sunday of Advent
December 14, 2014
Psalm 38
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.
2 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.
5 My wounds grow foul and fester because of my foolishness;
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all day long I go around mourning.
7 For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am utterly spent and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is known to you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me; as for the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction, and my neighbors stand far off.
12 Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin, and meditate treachery all day long.
13 But I am like the deaf, I do not hear; like the mute, who cannot speak.
14 Truly, I am like one who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no retort.
15 But it is for you, O LORD, that I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 For I pray, “Only do not let them rejoice over me, those who boast against me when my foot slips.”
17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me.
18 I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.
19 Those who are my foes without cause are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those who render me evil for good are my adversaries because I follow after good.
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, do not be far from me;
22 make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.
(NRSV)
With a worldview in which God is a despotic ruler, every action has a cost and promise as a direct response from God. If we do well, God gives a reward, a promise. If we do badly, God punishes us, a cost. Here the psalmist is reeling from the effects of a bad course of action. To exact the cost God conscripts others to add to the physical and emotional toll the psalmist must pay. Even friends are wise enough to stay out of the way of the execution of God’s justice. As is often the case, the psalmist claims that this high a price is not in line with the sin being punished. When God is in charge with no room for negotiation there is no choice but to throw ourselves on the mercy of God for our sins.
If, instead, God has given the opportunity for each of us to make our own choices and reap the cost and promise of those actions our view of God can change. In this worldview we are not so much punished for our sin as we are punished by our sin. It is not God who exacts the punishment. God neither causes the reaction to our activity nor protects us from our actions or the actions of others. This frees God to be with us in all times and places. God can rejoice with us and ache with us. It is not God who has changed; our view of the world colors how we experience the presence of God.
Some are reluctant to believe that God is present in any other way than that expressed in Scripture. For them God will always be a distant judge waiting for us to do something that warrants either extra favors or extra punishments. God is one of whom to be afraid. Others are willing to allow our views of God to change as our worldview changes. God continues to be God and we find new and meaningful ways to relate as our perception of what it means to be people of God ebbs and flows.
December 8, 2014
LCM
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Psalm Meditation 755
Second Sunday of Advent
December 7, 2014
Psalm 88
1 O LORD, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
2 let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help,
5 like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
8 You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9 my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call on you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O LORD, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O LORD, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Wretched and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.
16 Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me.
18 You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me; my companions are in darkness.
(NRSV)
This may be the single most depressing psalm of the entire book. While most of the psalms of lament end with a word of hope, this one does not. In some translations, the last phrase of the psalm is, ‘and darkness is my only friend.’ If you are in the mood to be depressed this is the psalm to read to make sure you make it as deep into depression as possible. However, if you are already depressed this psalm may serve to give you hope. It serves as a reminder that you are not the only one who has ever felt abandoned by your friends as well as by God. Realizing that you are not alone is a great step in dealing with depression.
In the midst of this feeling of abandonment by one and all the psalmist still addresses the psalm to God. When no one else is listening, God is still there, still loving us and caring for us, even when we have no awareness or experience of God’s presence. The feeling that someone is listening to us in our darkest moments, that there is some reason to lift our voices into the seeming void of existence may be our assurance that God is there and that we are not as alone as it seems.
Laying claim to this psalm as a personal statement of a sense of feeling helpless, hopeless and worthless has the potential to lead us forward to a renewed faith. At some point the last phrase of the last verse will bring a curl of a smile to our lips as we realize that we are addressing the psalm to one who is our friend and is not darkness. That may give us the strength to find someone else who is not in darkness until we find a source of light for ourselves. This psalm will not treat or cure depression or even loss of faith, however it may give us the wherewithal to seek the resources we need to move forward.
December 2, 2014
LCM
Second Sunday of Advent
December 7, 2014
Psalm 88
1 O LORD, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
2 let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help,
5 like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
8 You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9 my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call on you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O LORD, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O LORD, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Wretched and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.
16 Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me.
18 You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me; my companions are in darkness.
(NRSV)
This may be the single most depressing psalm of the entire book. While most of the psalms of lament end with a word of hope, this one does not. In some translations, the last phrase of the psalm is, ‘and darkness is my only friend.’ If you are in the mood to be depressed this is the psalm to read to make sure you make it as deep into depression as possible. However, if you are already depressed this psalm may serve to give you hope. It serves as a reminder that you are not the only one who has ever felt abandoned by your friends as well as by God. Realizing that you are not alone is a great step in dealing with depression.
In the midst of this feeling of abandonment by one and all the psalmist still addresses the psalm to God. When no one else is listening, God is still there, still loving us and caring for us, even when we have no awareness or experience of God’s presence. The feeling that someone is listening to us in our darkest moments, that there is some reason to lift our voices into the seeming void of existence may be our assurance that God is there and that we are not as alone as it seems.
Laying claim to this psalm as a personal statement of a sense of feeling helpless, hopeless and worthless has the potential to lead us forward to a renewed faith. At some point the last phrase of the last verse will bring a curl of a smile to our lips as we realize that we are addressing the psalm to one who is our friend and is not darkness. That may give us the strength to find someone else who is not in darkness until we find a source of light for ourselves. This psalm will not treat or cure depression or even loss of faith, however it may give us the wherewithal to seek the resources we need to move forward.
December 2, 2014
LCM
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