Psalm Meditation 811
Second Sunday After Christmas
January 3, 2016
Psalm 122
1 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
2 Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together.
4 To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
5 For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.”
8 For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.
(NRSV)
It seems a good way to end and begin a new year; to, ‘go to the house of the LORD.’ While it is good to spend time in a place of worship, it is made better when it is populated with others who share an interest in being in the presence of God. The invitation received by the psalmist, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” becomes more than going to the sanctuary of God, it includes being part of a community at worship. Introverts and extroverts alike find a place in a worship gathering.
When any community gathers there will be those with whom we look forward to spending time as well as those whose presence will begin as a burden. Given time, some of those we anticipate as burdensome will be counted among those we look forward to spending time in worship. We will find those with whom we agree as well as those with whom we disagree, and we will find ourselves forming important links with some of each group of people. Genuine community is about being together in our differentness more than agreeing on everything.
As we gather from our various geographies and places on political and theological spectra we can find common ground in our prayers for peace. Our ideas of how that looks may be as different as our heart and mindsets, however our prayers continue to be for peace; in our hearts, our community, our nation and world. God hears our prayers and moves us in the ways that lead to God’s peace in and among us.
December 28, 2015
LCM
Monday, December 28, 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
Psalm Meditation 810
First Sunday After Christmas
December 27, 2015
Psalm 29
1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; worship the LORD in holy splendor.
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over mighty waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
11 May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!
(NRSV)
In the midst of all that goes on in our lives, it seems important to look up from all the things that concern us to see the glory of God that surrounds us. As Advent gives way to Christmas we can find ourselves putting our heads down and plowing into the final weeks and days. We lose sight of some of the most important parts of the season; the presence of God and the glory that streams out of that presence. If we can take a moment to look up we discover that it is the presence and glory of God that makes all this running and worrying seem a bit less intimidating.
If we don’t get everything done, God will still be with us and the people around us will still love us. If we miss a spot in our cleaning and tidying God will enjoy our company, as will our family and friends. To look up and see that everything on our list pales in the abiding presence of God gives us a moment’s peace at the very least. Sometimes all we need is one or two deep breaths in order to feel our shoulders relax, the tension fade from all the places we store it away, if even for a moment.
When, in the presence of God, we are able to calm our hearts in the face of stresses and strains of this or any other season, we find ourselves better able to face a variety of calamities. To see the glory of God as a regular part of our lives makes some of the things that overwhelm us seem a tad less intimidating.
December 21, 2015
LCM
First Sunday After Christmas
December 27, 2015
Psalm 29
1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; worship the LORD in holy splendor.
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over mighty waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
11 May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!
(NRSV)
In the midst of all that goes on in our lives, it seems important to look up from all the things that concern us to see the glory of God that surrounds us. As Advent gives way to Christmas we can find ourselves putting our heads down and plowing into the final weeks and days. We lose sight of some of the most important parts of the season; the presence of God and the glory that streams out of that presence. If we can take a moment to look up we discover that it is the presence and glory of God that makes all this running and worrying seem a bit less intimidating.
If we don’t get everything done, God will still be with us and the people around us will still love us. If we miss a spot in our cleaning and tidying God will enjoy our company, as will our family and friends. To look up and see that everything on our list pales in the abiding presence of God gives us a moment’s peace at the very least. Sometimes all we need is one or two deep breaths in order to feel our shoulders relax, the tension fade from all the places we store it away, if even for a moment.
When, in the presence of God, we are able to calm our hearts in the face of stresses and strains of this or any other season, we find ourselves better able to face a variety of calamities. To see the glory of God as a regular part of our lives makes some of the things that overwhelm us seem a tad less intimidating.
December 21, 2015
LCM
Monday, December 14, 2015
Psalm Meditation 809
Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 20, 2015
Psalm 79
1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the air for food, the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.
5 How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.
8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes.
11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power preserve those doomed to die.
12 Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord!
13 Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
(NRSV)
It seems that the harshest judgment of God is reserved for those who have been claimed as followers and children. We, like the psalmist, would much rather that God’s ire be reserved for ‘those people,’ the ones outside the fold, the ones who are even worse at following the ways of God than we are. If only God would beat up on the bad guys and leave us alone to follow the ways of God when it suits us. However, it is hard to follow the rules when they are unknown. As we are more strict with our own children, so God is more apt to judge us when we stray.
It is so much easier to see the sins of folks whose ways already trouble us that we can fail to look at ourselves as people in need of correction and redirection. We would rather stand up and point our fingers at the faults and flaws of ‘those people’ than look to where we are in need of confession and repentance. Yes, those people may be in the wrong by our standards, however we can actually do something about our own behavior.
God is with us when other people are out to get us through no fault of our own, because God loves us. God is with us when people are out to get us because we have done something to provoke them, because God loves us beyond measure. That God is with us does not mean that we are always right, that we deserve better than anyone else or that we are exempt from humility, grace, forgiveness and repentance.
December 14, 2015
LCM
Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 20, 2015
Psalm 79
1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the air for food, the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.
5 How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.
8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes.
11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power preserve those doomed to die.
12 Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord!
13 Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
(NRSV)
It seems that the harshest judgment of God is reserved for those who have been claimed as followers and children. We, like the psalmist, would much rather that God’s ire be reserved for ‘those people,’ the ones outside the fold, the ones who are even worse at following the ways of God than we are. If only God would beat up on the bad guys and leave us alone to follow the ways of God when it suits us. However, it is hard to follow the rules when they are unknown. As we are more strict with our own children, so God is more apt to judge us when we stray.
It is so much easier to see the sins of folks whose ways already trouble us that we can fail to look at ourselves as people in need of correction and redirection. We would rather stand up and point our fingers at the faults and flaws of ‘those people’ than look to where we are in need of confession and repentance. Yes, those people may be in the wrong by our standards, however we can actually do something about our own behavior.
God is with us when other people are out to get us through no fault of our own, because God loves us. God is with us when people are out to get us because we have done something to provoke them, because God loves us beyond measure. That God is with us does not mean that we are always right, that we deserve better than anyone else or that we are exempt from humility, grace, forgiveness and repentance.
December 14, 2015
LCM
Monday, December 7, 2015
Psalm Meditation 808
Third Sunday of Advent
December 13, 2015
Psalm 22
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
8 “Commit your cause to the LORD; let him deliver—let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
10 On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls encircle me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled;
17 I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O LORD, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD. May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.
30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.
(NRSV)
In winter months especially, it is easy to let the darkness of a day work its way past our skin and get into the cracks and recesses of our lives. Given the proper conditions we can feel lost, abandoned, forsaken. The psalmist is going through one of these dark times and laments the infectious darkness while at the same time having an awareness of God’s presence in the past. God has been present in the community as well as in the personal details of the psalmist’s life from birth. Darkness and God’s presence wrestle for the top spot in the psalmist’s awareness.
The psalmist chooses to dwell on the presence of God and to move from the sense of having been forsaken to an awareness that God is, and has always been, a watcher over and a protector of those who feel abandoned and defeated in the face of what would otherwise be overwhelming. When we feel as if we have options, the psalmist models making the choice for God. From a sense of having been forsaken, the psalmist moves to a remembrance of the presence of God. The dark thoughts crash back in to be met again by the active engagement of God in the life of the whole community, including the psalmist.
When we are in a position to choose our feelings and mood, it is good to have this pattern from the psalm. We decide, in the midst of bearing the weight of the world, to focus on the presence of God. When the weight of the darkness worms its way back in, we re-focus on the presence of God in our own lives and in the lives of those who have taught us by word and example that God is ever available to us. As we see God at work more and more clearly the darkness of feeling forsaken fades in the light of the company and community of God and the people of God.
December 7, 2015
LCM
Third Sunday of Advent
December 13, 2015
Psalm 22
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
8 “Commit your cause to the LORD; let him deliver—let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
10 On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls encircle me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled;
17 I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O LORD, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD. May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.
30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.
(NRSV)
In winter months especially, it is easy to let the darkness of a day work its way past our skin and get into the cracks and recesses of our lives. Given the proper conditions we can feel lost, abandoned, forsaken. The psalmist is going through one of these dark times and laments the infectious darkness while at the same time having an awareness of God’s presence in the past. God has been present in the community as well as in the personal details of the psalmist’s life from birth. Darkness and God’s presence wrestle for the top spot in the psalmist’s awareness.
The psalmist chooses to dwell on the presence of God and to move from the sense of having been forsaken to an awareness that God is, and has always been, a watcher over and a protector of those who feel abandoned and defeated in the face of what would otherwise be overwhelming. When we feel as if we have options, the psalmist models making the choice for God. From a sense of having been forsaken, the psalmist moves to a remembrance of the presence of God. The dark thoughts crash back in to be met again by the active engagement of God in the life of the whole community, including the psalmist.
When we are in a position to choose our feelings and mood, it is good to have this pattern from the psalm. We decide, in the midst of bearing the weight of the world, to focus on the presence of God. When the weight of the darkness worms its way back in, we re-focus on the presence of God in our own lives and in the lives of those who have taught us by word and example that God is ever available to us. As we see God at work more and more clearly the darkness of feeling forsaken fades in the light of the company and community of God and the people of God.
December 7, 2015
LCM
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