Psalm Meditation 915
First Sunday After Christmas
December 31, 2017
Psalm 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.
(NRSV)
The task of a shepherd is to relinquish some control in order to allow the sheep to find the tasty morsels available in the area while at the same time keeping a watchful eye over the sheep to protect them from dangers and predators. It is tempting for some to keep their charges too close together for the sake of safety and protection, not realizing that the sheep will quickly run out of things on which to graze and will damage that small area. The other temptation is to let sheep graze too widely and not be able to keep watch over all the sheep at once.
Some who call themselves shepherd expect the people around them to travel in lock step with them. Ranging outside the tight group is frowned upon and discouraged. It is a great way to control folks, to keep them safe, and to keep them from having questions and opinions that take them out of the tight held control of the shepherd. To question or to second guess the leader is seen as dangerous and evil. Folks are expected to be docile, to go where and to believe what they are told without question or comment. While there are times in which conformity is important, if that need never changes there is a problem.
God allows us to range freely within a set of boundaries. Some of us will never notice the limits because we are content where we find ourselves. Others of us will be in contact with the shepherd on a more regular basis as we wander on the fringes of the group. We will purposely or inadvertently push the limits of our range and be called back, perhaps even feel pushed back. We will feel put upon at the time, however in time we may notice that we were wandering into dangerous places and the prod was for our protection rather than any other reason. Through it all God is with us “and I [we] shall dwell in the house of the LORD my [our] whole life long.”
December 26, 2017
LCM
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Monday, December 18, 2017
Psalm Meditation 914
Fourth Sunday of Advent/Christmas Eve
December 24, 2017
Psalm 128
1 Happy is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways.
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
4 Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.
5 The LORD bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6 May you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!
(NRSV)
The two extremes of being afraid of someone have to do with whether or not we want to be in their company. We are afraid of some people in a way that we do not want to be near them. They are creepy, violent, or mean in a way that we do not like being around them. They have a way of sucking the life out of us. When we are in the same place together we are mindful of where they are so that we can avoid them if possible. When we must interact with them we stay as distant and formal as we possibly can to protect ourselves from further damage.
We are afraid of other people in a way that draws us to them. We are in awe of them. We want to be close to them and find ourselves wide eyed and open mouthed around them. They have a way of enlivening us. We find and make ways to be near them, though not too close. We are afraid our excitement will get the better of us and we will be incapable of communicating with them in any meaningful way. We want to approach and we want to run away all at once so we find a comfortable distance hoping to move closer as we spend time together.
God wants us to be drawn in; to want to be in God’s presence. God is one who is touched by our awe and who wants us to know that we are welcome and encouraged to come as close as we are comfortable. As we approach God includes us into the conversation and activity as one who has a place close to God. We may continue to feel unworthy, however it is not God who makes us feel that way. When we allow ourselves to join in, to claim the place God offers, we will be happy/blessed.
December 18, 2017
LCM
Fourth Sunday of Advent/Christmas Eve
December 24, 2017
Psalm 128
1 Happy is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways.
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
4 Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.
5 The LORD bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6 May you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!
(NRSV)
The two extremes of being afraid of someone have to do with whether or not we want to be in their company. We are afraid of some people in a way that we do not want to be near them. They are creepy, violent, or mean in a way that we do not like being around them. They have a way of sucking the life out of us. When we are in the same place together we are mindful of where they are so that we can avoid them if possible. When we must interact with them we stay as distant and formal as we possibly can to protect ourselves from further damage.
We are afraid of other people in a way that draws us to them. We are in awe of them. We want to be close to them and find ourselves wide eyed and open mouthed around them. They have a way of enlivening us. We find and make ways to be near them, though not too close. We are afraid our excitement will get the better of us and we will be incapable of communicating with them in any meaningful way. We want to approach and we want to run away all at once so we find a comfortable distance hoping to move closer as we spend time together.
God wants us to be drawn in; to want to be in God’s presence. God is one who is touched by our awe and who wants us to know that we are welcome and encouraged to come as close as we are comfortable. As we approach God includes us into the conversation and activity as one who has a place close to God. We may continue to feel unworthy, however it is not God who makes us feel that way. When we allow ourselves to join in, to claim the place God offers, we will be happy/blessed.
December 18, 2017
LCM
Monday, December 11, 2017
Psalm Meditation 913
Third Sunday of Advent
December 17, 2017
Psalm 73
1 Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pain; their bodies are sound and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not plagued like other people.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out with fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues range over the earth.
10 Therefore the people turn and praise them, and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Such are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued, and am punished every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,” I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
20 They are like a dream when one awakes; on awaking you despise their phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was stupid and ignorant; I was like a brute beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me with honor.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 Indeed, those who are far from you will perish; you put an end to those who are false to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, to tell of all your works.
(NRSV)
We make heroes out of wealthy people, believing that wealth is a blessing God bestows on people who deserve it. At the very least we believe that rich people have worked hard through their lives and have earned everything they have. Since they have done it we see it as possible for us to work hard, make the right choices and reap the same rewards and benefits as all the rich people who have made it ahead of us. Barring that, we gamble on lotteries and other games of chance, knowing that God will give us a turn at winning and all will be well. Wealth is seen as an unlimited commodity and there is a place for us in the ranks of the rich.
In the biblical era wealth was seen as limited and set. The only way someone could become rich was to make someone else poor. In this view, the only people who can become rich are those willing to take advantage of people for the sake of their own prosperity. In order to be rich one must also be wicked. Rich people tend to turn away from God since they have everything they could possibly want or need.
There are always those who look up to rich people as a class. People know that, unlike all the other rich people, ‘I could handle being rich and popular without taking advantage of others.’ Most people are convinced that having money would not change them. I believe that to be true. People who are kind and generous continue to be kind and generous with money; people who are selfish and self-serving will continue to take advantage of others once they add money to their reasons to lord it over people.
It turns out that both world views have some truth and merit. The supply of wealth and resources has much higher limits than we can imagine, and those who have money tend to take advantage of those who don’t in a variety of ways. The deciding factor in whether or not rich folk exploit those around them lies in a relationship with God. Those who trust God to provide out of the bounty of creation are much more willing to share and spread their wealth than those who trust themselves and their abilities. Any rewards we are reap are from the motivations of our hearts in God rather than from the prosperity itself. God does not want us to be rich, God wants us to be faithful.
December 11, 2017
LCM
Third Sunday of Advent
December 17, 2017
Psalm 73
1 Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pain; their bodies are sound and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not plagued like other people.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out with fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues range over the earth.
10 Therefore the people turn and praise them, and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Such are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued, and am punished every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,” I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
20 They are like a dream when one awakes; on awaking you despise their phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was stupid and ignorant; I was like a brute beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me with honor.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 Indeed, those who are far from you will perish; you put an end to those who are false to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, to tell of all your works.
(NRSV)
We make heroes out of wealthy people, believing that wealth is a blessing God bestows on people who deserve it. At the very least we believe that rich people have worked hard through their lives and have earned everything they have. Since they have done it we see it as possible for us to work hard, make the right choices and reap the same rewards and benefits as all the rich people who have made it ahead of us. Barring that, we gamble on lotteries and other games of chance, knowing that God will give us a turn at winning and all will be well. Wealth is seen as an unlimited commodity and there is a place for us in the ranks of the rich.
In the biblical era wealth was seen as limited and set. The only way someone could become rich was to make someone else poor. In this view, the only people who can become rich are those willing to take advantage of people for the sake of their own prosperity. In order to be rich one must also be wicked. Rich people tend to turn away from God since they have everything they could possibly want or need.
There are always those who look up to rich people as a class. People know that, unlike all the other rich people, ‘I could handle being rich and popular without taking advantage of others.’ Most people are convinced that having money would not change them. I believe that to be true. People who are kind and generous continue to be kind and generous with money; people who are selfish and self-serving will continue to take advantage of others once they add money to their reasons to lord it over people.
It turns out that both world views have some truth and merit. The supply of wealth and resources has much higher limits than we can imagine, and those who have money tend to take advantage of those who don’t in a variety of ways. The deciding factor in whether or not rich folk exploit those around them lies in a relationship with God. Those who trust God to provide out of the bounty of creation are much more willing to share and spread their wealth than those who trust themselves and their abilities. Any rewards we are reap are from the motivations of our hearts in God rather than from the prosperity itself. God does not want us to be rich, God wants us to be faithful.
December 11, 2017
LCM
Monday, December 4, 2017
Psalm Meditation 912
Second Sunday of Advent
December 10, 2017
Psalm 78:1-12,26-39
1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
5 He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children;
6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot what he had done, and the miracles that he had shown them.
12 In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 he rained flesh upon them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28 he let them fall within their camp, all around their dwellings.
29 And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.
30 But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them and he killed the strongest of them, and laid low the flower of Israel.
32 In spite of all this they still sinned; they did not believe in his wonders.
33 So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror.
34 When he killed them, they sought for him; they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not true to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; often he restrained his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and does not come again.
(NRSV)
One of the things I like about Judaism is that they don’t sugar coat their heroes and ancestors. We know from the beginning that people are going to be faithful for a moment and then stray from doing the will of God, as individuals and as a nation. It is a recognition that people can only depend on God for a little while before they wander off to do things their own way. It is an acknowledgment that we are human and that God still loves them and works for their good despite all the ways they tempt God to walk away.
I was taught that national heroes were practically perfect in every way. We might get some odd piece of trivia to humanize them a bit, for the most part they were perfect and excellent. It wasn’t until the perfection was deeply ingrained that we began to hear about faults, flaws and failings that would have had a questioning the hero designation. We seem to believe that perfection is the minimum standard for anyone who runs for office and serves the nation. If someone is less than perfect we find a way to make them fit our notion of what a hero is, or if they are of the other party, we make them the villain for being such a cad and moral misfit. While it may seem that we are in the worst of times, it is just as possible that we have been through worse and not heard about it.
When we are perfect, we have no need of God. It is when we realize that we are in need of an external moral compass; that we are in need of forgiveness and redemption that we can turn to God for healing and salvation. It is only by seeing ourselves, individually and collectively, as flawed and faltering that we can set aside our need for perfect leaders, even if we have to redefine what perfection is. As less than perfect people we can turn to God for all that God has to offer.
December 4, 2017
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Second Sunday of Advent
December 10, 2017
Psalm 78:1-12,26-39
1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
5 He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children;
6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot what he had done, and the miracles that he had shown them.
12 In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 he rained flesh upon them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28 he let them fall within their camp, all around their dwellings.
29 And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.
30 But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them and he killed the strongest of them, and laid low the flower of Israel.
32 In spite of all this they still sinned; they did not believe in his wonders.
33 So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror.
34 When he killed them, they sought for him; they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not true to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; often he restrained his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and does not come again.
(NRSV)
One of the things I like about Judaism is that they don’t sugar coat their heroes and ancestors. We know from the beginning that people are going to be faithful for a moment and then stray from doing the will of God, as individuals and as a nation. It is a recognition that people can only depend on God for a little while before they wander off to do things their own way. It is an acknowledgment that we are human and that God still loves them and works for their good despite all the ways they tempt God to walk away.
I was taught that national heroes were practically perfect in every way. We might get some odd piece of trivia to humanize them a bit, for the most part they were perfect and excellent. It wasn’t until the perfection was deeply ingrained that we began to hear about faults, flaws and failings that would have had a questioning the hero designation. We seem to believe that perfection is the minimum standard for anyone who runs for office and serves the nation. If someone is less than perfect we find a way to make them fit our notion of what a hero is, or if they are of the other party, we make them the villain for being such a cad and moral misfit. While it may seem that we are in the worst of times, it is just as possible that we have been through worse and not heard about it.
When we are perfect, we have no need of God. It is when we realize that we are in need of an external moral compass; that we are in need of forgiveness and redemption that we can turn to God for healing and salvation. It is only by seeing ourselves, individually and collectively, as flawed and faltering that we can set aside our need for perfect leaders, even if we have to redefine what perfection is. As less than perfect people we can turn to God for all that God has to offer.
December 4, 2017
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
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