Psalm Meditation 859
Second Sunday of Advent
December 4, 2016
Psalm 91
1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
2 will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence;
4 he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day,
6 or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place,
10 no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
14 Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name.
15 When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.
16 With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.
(NRSV)
Being in a dangerous situation and being afraid are two different things. In some situations, we have no idea how dangerous it is so we rush in as if no danger exists and realize later how foolish we have been. Sometimes we are aware of the danger and go in because of some greater need. Sometimes we are afraid because the danger is remembered or anticipated rather than present in the current situation. And there are folks who claim not to be afraid of anything. In some situations we are less afraid because we are with one who allays our fear.
The psalmist reminds people that in whatever situation they may find themselves God is with them. While there are certainly reasons to be afraid, knowing that God is with them they can be a less so. God is present to shield them, protect them and deliver them from any and all situations in which they find themselves. God will be with them and rescue them in every trouble in which they call out for God.
I believe that God is with each person in every time and place. I also believe that God rescues more folks than we know about. People of faith are aware of God’s presence and cry out for help. When it comes they give God credit for the help they have received. God may help others as well even though they do not recognize the hand of God at work in the particular situation or in their lives. Just because we don’t recognize or acknowledge the source of our help does not mean we have not been helped.
November 28, 2016
LCM
Monday, November 28, 2016
Monday, November 21, 2016
Psalm Meditation 858
First Sunday of Advent
November 27, 2016
Psalm 60
1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; now restore us!
2 You have caused the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering.
3 You have made your people suffer hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us reel.
4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you, to rally to it out of bowshot. Selah
5 Give victory with your right hand, and answer us, so that those whom you love may be rescued.
6 God has promised in his sanctuary: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I hurl my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
11 O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless.
12 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.
(NRSV)
At a time in which all divine beings are considered local, this psalm makes sense. The psalmist asks ‘our’ divinity to go to war against ‘their’ divinity so that we can be victorious against ‘those people.’ In addition, the earth itself is out to get us as it quakes and splits open underneath us. It is a scary time and what seems to make the most sense is that God has abandoned us to our enemies because of something we did to put us on the naughty list.
We have expanded our view of God to be the one who created all that is and who rules over the whole of creation. In this world view asking God to beat up our enemies for us becomes problematic. When we are all children of the same God, even when we have different opinions and varied allegiances, it is silly to ask God to intervene on our behalf against a disagreeable sibling. I know there are parents who have an obvious favorite child, however that is not parenting at its best. If a good parent doesn’t play favorites, it is hard to ask that God always be on my side or our side in every disagreement.
Tempting as it is to believe that I am so attuned to God as to be on the nice list in every disagreement, it isn’t realistic. Before we call on God to beat up the ‘bad guys’ we do well to check in to make sure that we are aligned with God in a big picture way. If I am right in a particular and miss the broad overarching view, I may be the one God would beat up, if it were God’s way to beat up on the ‘bad guys’ to protect the ‘good guys.’
November 21, 2016
LCM
First Sunday of Advent
November 27, 2016
Psalm 60
1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; now restore us!
2 You have caused the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering.
3 You have made your people suffer hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us reel.
4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you, to rally to it out of bowshot. Selah
5 Give victory with your right hand, and answer us, so that those whom you love may be rescued.
6 God has promised in his sanctuary: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I hurl my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
11 O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless.
12 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.
(NRSV)
At a time in which all divine beings are considered local, this psalm makes sense. The psalmist asks ‘our’ divinity to go to war against ‘their’ divinity so that we can be victorious against ‘those people.’ In addition, the earth itself is out to get us as it quakes and splits open underneath us. It is a scary time and what seems to make the most sense is that God has abandoned us to our enemies because of something we did to put us on the naughty list.
We have expanded our view of God to be the one who created all that is and who rules over the whole of creation. In this world view asking God to beat up our enemies for us becomes problematic. When we are all children of the same God, even when we have different opinions and varied allegiances, it is silly to ask God to intervene on our behalf against a disagreeable sibling. I know there are parents who have an obvious favorite child, however that is not parenting at its best. If a good parent doesn’t play favorites, it is hard to ask that God always be on my side or our side in every disagreement.
Tempting as it is to believe that I am so attuned to God as to be on the nice list in every disagreement, it isn’t realistic. Before we call on God to beat up the ‘bad guys’ we do well to check in to make sure that we are aligned with God in a big picture way. If I am right in a particular and miss the broad overarching view, I may be the one God would beat up, if it were God’s way to beat up on the ‘bad guys’ to protect the ‘good guys.’
November 21, 2016
LCM
Monday, November 14, 2016
Psalm Meditation 857
Reign of Christ Sunday
November 20, 2016
Psalm 141
I call upon you, O LORD; come quickly to me; give ear to my voice when I call to you.
2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.
3 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not turn my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with those who work iniquity; do not let me eat of their delicacies.
5 Let the righteous strike me; let the faithful correct me. Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head, for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.
6 When they are given over to those who shall condemn them, then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.
7 Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land, so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.
8 But my eyes are turned toward you, O GOD, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenseless.
9 Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me, and from the snares of evildoers.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I alone escape.
(NRSV)
There are times in which it is easy to say things that are hurtful to others. Sometimes those words are true, yet spoken in a way or at a time that is not helpful. When my team beats your team in sports, politics or religion and I let you know that I won and you lost, it is not helpful. When I do all that with the aim of belittling you, that is hurtful. When you are already down and hurting and I jump in your face to remind you that you are ‘a loser’ that is probably evil.
There are times in which it is best to set a guard over my mouth and say nothing rather than make it a point to say that hurtful thing to someone who is already suffering. Perhaps when the roles were reversed I heard those hurtful things and now I am getting back at all those who hurt me before. I do well to join the psalmist in praying, “Do not turn my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with those who work iniquity.”
Tables do have a way of turning. If I can keep myself from saying anything that sounds like bragging or insulting on the winning side, it is possible that I won’t hear it when I am next on the losing side. And if I do hear it, I can join the psalmist in turning toward God for a moment of refuge and respite.
November 14, 2016
LCM
Reign of Christ Sunday
November 20, 2016
Psalm 141
I call upon you, O LORD; come quickly to me; give ear to my voice when I call to you.
2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.
3 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not turn my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with those who work iniquity; do not let me eat of their delicacies.
5 Let the righteous strike me; let the faithful correct me. Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head, for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.
6 When they are given over to those who shall condemn them, then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.
7 Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land, so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.
8 But my eyes are turned toward you, O GOD, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenseless.
9 Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me, and from the snares of evildoers.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I alone escape.
(NRSV)
There are times in which it is easy to say things that are hurtful to others. Sometimes those words are true, yet spoken in a way or at a time that is not helpful. When my team beats your team in sports, politics or religion and I let you know that I won and you lost, it is not helpful. When I do all that with the aim of belittling you, that is hurtful. When you are already down and hurting and I jump in your face to remind you that you are ‘a loser’ that is probably evil.
There are times in which it is best to set a guard over my mouth and say nothing rather than make it a point to say that hurtful thing to someone who is already suffering. Perhaps when the roles were reversed I heard those hurtful things and now I am getting back at all those who hurt me before. I do well to join the psalmist in praying, “Do not turn my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with those who work iniquity.”
Tables do have a way of turning. If I can keep myself from saying anything that sounds like bragging or insulting on the winning side, it is possible that I won’t hear it when I am next on the losing side. And if I do hear it, I can join the psalmist in turning toward God for a moment of refuge and respite.
November 14, 2016
LCM
Monday, November 7, 2016
Psalm Meditation 856
Proper 28
November 13, 2016
Psalm 10
1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked persecute the poor—let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.
3 For the wicked boast of the desires of their heart, those greedy for gain curse and renounce the LORD.
4 In the pride of their countenance the wicked say, “God will not seek it out”; all their thoughts are, “There is no God.”
5 Their ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of their sight; as for their foes, they scoff at them.
6 They think in their heart, “We shall not be moved; throughout all generations we shall not meet adversity.”
7 Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under their tongues are mischief and iniquity.
8 They sit in ambush in the villages; in hiding places they murder the innocent. Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 they lurk in secret like a lion in its covert; they lurk that they may seize the poor; they seize the poor and drag them off in their net.
10 They stoop, they crouch, and the helpless fall by their might.
11 They think in their heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
12 Rise up, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed.
13 Why do the wicked renounce God, and say in their hearts, “You will not call us to account”?
14 But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands; the helpless commit themselves to you; you have been the helper of the orphan.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoers; seek out their wickedness until you find none.
16 The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations shall perish from his land.
17 O LORD, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear
18 to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more.
(NRSV)
It is tempting to say that rich people have no need of God, however I know some wealthy people who are faithful in a number of ways. There must be a more subtle distinction than rich and poor in the matter of who needs God. Those who depend on their wealth and resources to keep them away from trouble, whose purpose is to protect their riches from any claim other than their own are the ones the psalmist is addressing here. Those who have no other rule in their lives than to get more of what is out there with as little cost as possible to themselves are the evil ones.
The psalmist is not so concerned about the money as the way the wicked treat the people of God’s particular concern, those who have little to nothing. Those who prey on the poor in order to fill their own coffers are wicked and evil as far as the psalmist is concerned. These folks have no thought of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Sarah. The god of these wicked folks is the very riches they seek. Their lives are given over to the pursuit of riches at the expense of all else. They do not care for the poor, they do not even see them except as sources for more and more.
The important part of the psalm is that God sees what we do; God pays attention to how we behave and how we treat each other. It isn’t about the money, it is about our attitude toward money and the people with whom we share our lives. When we treat people as brothers and sisters, God notices. When we treat people as objects, especially objects to help us achieve our selfish ends, God notices. In God’s good time we are rewarded for the ways we treat each other. “O LORD, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more.”
November 7, 2016
LCM
Proper 28
November 13, 2016
Psalm 10
1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked persecute the poor—let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.
3 For the wicked boast of the desires of their heart, those greedy for gain curse and renounce the LORD.
4 In the pride of their countenance the wicked say, “God will not seek it out”; all their thoughts are, “There is no God.”
5 Their ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of their sight; as for their foes, they scoff at them.
6 They think in their heart, “We shall not be moved; throughout all generations we shall not meet adversity.”
7 Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under their tongues are mischief and iniquity.
8 They sit in ambush in the villages; in hiding places they murder the innocent. Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 they lurk in secret like a lion in its covert; they lurk that they may seize the poor; they seize the poor and drag them off in their net.
10 They stoop, they crouch, and the helpless fall by their might.
11 They think in their heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
12 Rise up, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed.
13 Why do the wicked renounce God, and say in their hearts, “You will not call us to account”?
14 But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands; the helpless commit themselves to you; you have been the helper of the orphan.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoers; seek out their wickedness until you find none.
16 The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations shall perish from his land.
17 O LORD, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear
18 to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more.
(NRSV)
It is tempting to say that rich people have no need of God, however I know some wealthy people who are faithful in a number of ways. There must be a more subtle distinction than rich and poor in the matter of who needs God. Those who depend on their wealth and resources to keep them away from trouble, whose purpose is to protect their riches from any claim other than their own are the ones the psalmist is addressing here. Those who have no other rule in their lives than to get more of what is out there with as little cost as possible to themselves are the evil ones.
The psalmist is not so concerned about the money as the way the wicked treat the people of God’s particular concern, those who have little to nothing. Those who prey on the poor in order to fill their own coffers are wicked and evil as far as the psalmist is concerned. These folks have no thought of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Sarah. The god of these wicked folks is the very riches they seek. Their lives are given over to the pursuit of riches at the expense of all else. They do not care for the poor, they do not even see them except as sources for more and more.
The important part of the psalm is that God sees what we do; God pays attention to how we behave and how we treat each other. It isn’t about the money, it is about our attitude toward money and the people with whom we share our lives. When we treat people as brothers and sisters, God notices. When we treat people as objects, especially objects to help us achieve our selfish ends, God notices. In God’s good time we are rewarded for the ways we treat each other. “O LORD, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more.”
November 7, 2016
LCM
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