Psalm Meditation 802
Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time
November 1, 2015

Psalm 21
1 In your strength the king rejoices, O LORD, and in your help how greatly he exults!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
3 For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked you for life; you gave it to him—length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great through your help; splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
6 You bestow on him blessings forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.
8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them like a fiery furnace when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.
10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth, and their children from among humankind.
11 If they plan evil against you, if they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
12 For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.
13 Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.
(NRSV)

We do like our lives to be predictable and sensible. I have heard that those who claim to like change are most often talking about self-imposed, self-directed change. These folks are as upset as the rest of us by change that comes from a place outside their control, especially unpleasant change. We don’t like to discover that our fortunes have suddenly changed for the worse, that those we count as our enemies have taken the upper hand. In those situations even those who claim most loudly that they like variety and change are going to call on God to rescue us from this unwanted and unwelcome change.

The psalmist raises up the king as one who is, and always has been, unfailingly quick to praise and exult God for all the help directed toward the king. Because the king has been predictable, it would be good if God were to remain predictable as well. Since our enemies and God’s enemies overlap at this point it would be good if the skills of the king of God would come together to defeat this enemy in a convincing display of military precision. The psalmist is so sure that the aims of king and God are the same it seems that the two are being addressed simultaneously.

Change comes whether we like it or not. Sometimes change is good for us. When things go from bad to good we like that change. When we find ourselves challenged by the changing conditions of our lives we may come to see those challenges as having been good for us despite the pain caused by it. When things go from good to bad we can be disheartened by the changes even as we discover new connections between ourselves and others. And sometimes change is bad from every angle and we would not wish that kind of change on anyone. In all of these, God is with us. God rejoices with us, helps us discover ways to grow through changing circumstances, is present with us in our suffering and stays with us in the most calamitous of circumstances.

October 26, 2015
LCM