Psalm Meditation 920
Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany
February 4, 2018
Psalm 130
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
2 Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.
8 It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
(NRSV)
We humans can be pretty harsh with each other, especially when we disagree. We have the phrase, ‘There is a special place in Hell for …’ And that place is hotter, farther away from God, and reserved for people who annoy us. That special place in Hell is hardly ever for people like us, it is for ‘them.’ Part of the assumption in that phrase is that we are so in tune with what God wants from humans that it must be those who are not like us who are going to Hell to begin with, and the ones who upset us most are going to the hottest part of Hell.
What if, the people who upset us most are the ones who are most like that part of ourselves that we do our best to deny, ignore, and keep in shadows so deep we don’t see them ourselves? In that case, the folks we consign to the hottest parts of Hell will be those who are like that shadow part of us, so every time we point out their place in Hell we assign ourselves there as well. We miss our own place card at the table because we are looking at the blank side of our place card, having already taken our seat at the table.
Lucky for us, the psalmist reminds us, God is forgiving, loving, and redemptive. While we are quick to assign seats in Hell, God is too busy redeeming, loving, and forgiving each one of us to pay attention to the table assignments we make so judgmentally. The psalmist also has a point, that while our concern may be for the redemption and salvation of all those around us, the only one we can do the slightest thing about is our own.
January 29, 2018
LCM
Monday, January 29, 2018
Monday, January 22, 2018
Psalm Meditation 919
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
January 28, 2018
Psalm 71
1 In you, O LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.
7 I have been like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me, and those who watch for my life consult together.
11 They say, “Pursue and seize that person whom God has forsaken, for there is no one to deliver.”
12 O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!
13 Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed; let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all day long, though their number is past my knowledge.
16 I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD, I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come. Your power
19 and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?
20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my honor, and comfort me once again.
22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have rescued.
24 All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help, for those who tried to do me harm have been put to shame, and disgraced.
(NRSV)
We like to know that even when we are in the wrong, we are not completely wrong. The psalmist wants the assurance that even in the midst of being hounded and harried, accused of being abandoned by God, that God is present. With the words, “Pursue and seize that person whom God has forsaken, for there is no one to deliver,” hanging in the air the psalmist knows that God is not one to forsake us in time of need. Even when we are guilty and in need of correction God does not abandon us. Even when we feel abandoned and left on our own God is with us.
Whether God is present or absent, near or far, the psalmist will continue to give God praise and will continue to celebrate the mighty deeds God performs in the world around us. Even if the psalmist gets no benefit from the goodness of God the praises and witness to the power of God will continue for as long as possible. At the same time there is confidence that God will act, will redeem, and will restore the psalmist to a place of honor and comfort.
I am aware that we read our own theological and cultural leanings into the biblical text. When we do that we get to avoid some of the harsh realities of the original context. In other cases we miss the richness of faithfulness in the people of God. It gives us the opportunity to explain away the violence of the text even though people may have been seized and punished because it appeared that they had been abandoned by God. We miss the richness of a faithfulness that clings to God when things are going well and when things are going badly, when it appears that we are abandoned and alone. Even then the psalmist praises God.
January 22, 2018
LCM
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
January 28, 2018
Psalm 71
1 In you, O LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.
7 I have been like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me, and those who watch for my life consult together.
11 They say, “Pursue and seize that person whom God has forsaken, for there is no one to deliver.”
12 O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!
13 Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed; let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all day long, though their number is past my knowledge.
16 I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD, I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come. Your power
19 and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?
20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my honor, and comfort me once again.
22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have rescued.
24 All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help, for those who tried to do me harm have been put to shame, and disgraced.
(NRSV)
We like to know that even when we are in the wrong, we are not completely wrong. The psalmist wants the assurance that even in the midst of being hounded and harried, accused of being abandoned by God, that God is present. With the words, “Pursue and seize that person whom God has forsaken, for there is no one to deliver,” hanging in the air the psalmist knows that God is not one to forsake us in time of need. Even when we are guilty and in need of correction God does not abandon us. Even when we feel abandoned and left on our own God is with us.
Whether God is present or absent, near or far, the psalmist will continue to give God praise and will continue to celebrate the mighty deeds God performs in the world around us. Even if the psalmist gets no benefit from the goodness of God the praises and witness to the power of God will continue for as long as possible. At the same time there is confidence that God will act, will redeem, and will restore the psalmist to a place of honor and comfort.
I am aware that we read our own theological and cultural leanings into the biblical text. When we do that we get to avoid some of the harsh realities of the original context. In other cases we miss the richness of faithfulness in the people of God. It gives us the opportunity to explain away the violence of the text even though people may have been seized and punished because it appeared that they had been abandoned by God. We miss the richness of a faithfulness that clings to God when things are going well and when things are going badly, when it appears that we are abandoned and alone. Even then the psalmist praises God.
January 22, 2018
LCM
Monday, January 15, 2018
Psalm Meditation 918
Third Sunday After Epiphany
January 21, 2018
Psalm 80
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us!
3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
4 O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 You make us the scorn of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine,
15 the stock that your right hand planted.
16 They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself.
18 Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name.
19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
(NRSV)
The psalm appears to have been written at a time in which the borders were under regular attack. It was probably not an army, but small bands of marauders, who would work the edges of the nation raiding what they could as their own need arose. Some of the raiding parties were larger than others. These ran through the nation like a boar runs through a vineyard, destroying everything in the wide path it leaves. In the midst of this the psalmist cries out to God for relief.
The psalmist reminds God that this nation was planted after the land was cleared and the way prepared by the hand of God. From there the nation has spread out to fill the space available to them. This current trouble must be because God is not paying attention. If only God would turn and empower the ruler to drive all these annoyances from the land. ‘And, if you, O God, will meet our needs for safety and security we will be true to you forever.’
Does God get distracted? God is not distractible, God is always paying attention and is always with us. Is God to blame when our lives don’t go as we would have planned them? God is not a puppet master who maps out our lives and sees that we live out the script written for us. Is God’s behavior negotiable, can we get God to do what we want by acting in certain ways? God is God, driven by decisions and priorities beyond our ability to understand. Through it all God is with us, loving us.
January 15, 2018
LCM
Third Sunday After Epiphany
January 21, 2018
Psalm 80
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us!
3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
4 O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 You make us the scorn of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine,
15 the stock that your right hand planted.
16 They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself.
18 Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name.
19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
(NRSV)
The psalm appears to have been written at a time in which the borders were under regular attack. It was probably not an army, but small bands of marauders, who would work the edges of the nation raiding what they could as their own need arose. Some of the raiding parties were larger than others. These ran through the nation like a boar runs through a vineyard, destroying everything in the wide path it leaves. In the midst of this the psalmist cries out to God for relief.
The psalmist reminds God that this nation was planted after the land was cleared and the way prepared by the hand of God. From there the nation has spread out to fill the space available to them. This current trouble must be because God is not paying attention. If only God would turn and empower the ruler to drive all these annoyances from the land. ‘And, if you, O God, will meet our needs for safety and security we will be true to you forever.’
Does God get distracted? God is not distractible, God is always paying attention and is always with us. Is God to blame when our lives don’t go as we would have planned them? God is not a puppet master who maps out our lives and sees that we live out the script written for us. Is God’s behavior negotiable, can we get God to do what we want by acting in certain ways? God is God, driven by decisions and priorities beyond our ability to understand. Through it all God is with us, loving us.
January 15, 2018
LCM
Monday, January 8, 2018
Psalm Meditation 917
Second Sunday After the Epiphany
January 14, 2018
Psalm 121
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
(NRSV)
According to the psalmist, God is greatly influenced by our actions. If we are good then God is good to us; if we are not, God exacts punishment on us. Much like a parent who lays down the rules and then gives us good and bad consequences according to how well we follow through on our rule keeping. As parents we like to think that we are in charge of the relationship with our children, however, when our lives are spent enforcing rules we find ourselves reacting rather than leading.
God has the ability to act on divine principles no matter what. God loves us, cares for us, offers us grace and forgiveness whether we are good or evil. The love of God is not a consequence of our actions, it is a gift that we are given to do with as we will. The consequences of our actions are not from God, the consequences are from our actions. I have heard, ’We are not punished for our sin as much as we are punished by our sin.’ That is, our actions have consequences built into them.
It is a rare person who can love people by their own choice. We are more inclined to love those who love us, to act for the benefit of those in our own circle of influence. God loves us no matter what. God is not influenced by our actions or associations, God is influenced by the choices God makes. God is not like us on a larger, grander scale. God is God. God is with us.
January 8, 2018
LCM
Second Sunday After the Epiphany
January 14, 2018
Psalm 121
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
(NRSV)
According to the psalmist, God is greatly influenced by our actions. If we are good then God is good to us; if we are not, God exacts punishment on us. Much like a parent who lays down the rules and then gives us good and bad consequences according to how well we follow through on our rule keeping. As parents we like to think that we are in charge of the relationship with our children, however, when our lives are spent enforcing rules we find ourselves reacting rather than leading.
God has the ability to act on divine principles no matter what. God loves us, cares for us, offers us grace and forgiveness whether we are good or evil. The love of God is not a consequence of our actions, it is a gift that we are given to do with as we will. The consequences of our actions are not from God, the consequences are from our actions. I have heard, ’We are not punished for our sin as much as we are punished by our sin.’ That is, our actions have consequences built into them.
It is a rare person who can love people by their own choice. We are more inclined to love those who love us, to act for the benefit of those in our own circle of influence. God loves us no matter what. God is not influenced by our actions or associations, God is influenced by the choices God makes. God is not like us on a larger, grander scale. God is God. God is with us.
January 8, 2018
LCM
Monday, January 1, 2018
Psalm Meditation 916
First Sunday After the Epiphany
January 7, 2018
Psalm 30
1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.
3 O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”
7 By your favor, O LORD, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
8 To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!”
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
(NRSV)
To go from suffering to rejoicing is a good thing. To know that God had a hand in bringing about the good things makes it all that much better. Going through a rough patch in which it seems that there is no way to turn things around is draining and isolating. We are sure that no one has been through anything quite like this and that our suffering is unique in scope. True, suffering is unique to the person going through it even as we experience the same event as those around us. It is isolating to know that no one has suffered this event in this way.
At some point we find a way to peek out of the isolation to see that others have suffered fates similar to ours. When we see that they too are moving from isolation to something new we offer ourselves to each other for companionship on this new journey. Perhaps we discover the presence of God within ourselves, perhaps we discover God in our companionship. Somehow I am reminded of a Latin phrase, “Vocatus atque non vocatus Deus aderit “ “Bidden or unbidden God is there. Whether we know it or not, whether we recognize it or not, God is with us in the good and the bad of our lives.
The psalmist is aware that God is present in the current state of affairs. Things were going badly and now they have turned around. God is in that turn around. The psalmist is also aware that God was present as things went from good to bad. In the psalmist’s mind God was an active cause in both directions. I do not need to see God as a cause for either good or bad in life. I am content to know that God is present, loving me in ways that prod me to live with the assurance, “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
January 1, 2018
LCM
First Sunday After the Epiphany
January 7, 2018
Psalm 30
1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.
3 O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”
7 By your favor, O LORD, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
8 To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!”
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
(NRSV)
To go from suffering to rejoicing is a good thing. To know that God had a hand in bringing about the good things makes it all that much better. Going through a rough patch in which it seems that there is no way to turn things around is draining and isolating. We are sure that no one has been through anything quite like this and that our suffering is unique in scope. True, suffering is unique to the person going through it even as we experience the same event as those around us. It is isolating to know that no one has suffered this event in this way.
At some point we find a way to peek out of the isolation to see that others have suffered fates similar to ours. When we see that they too are moving from isolation to something new we offer ourselves to each other for companionship on this new journey. Perhaps we discover the presence of God within ourselves, perhaps we discover God in our companionship. Somehow I am reminded of a Latin phrase, “Vocatus atque non vocatus Deus aderit “ “Bidden or unbidden God is there. Whether we know it or not, whether we recognize it or not, God is with us in the good and the bad of our lives.
The psalmist is aware that God is present in the current state of affairs. Things were going badly and now they have turned around. God is in that turn around. The psalmist is also aware that God was present as things went from good to bad. In the psalmist’s mind God was an active cause in both directions. I do not need to see God as a cause for either good or bad in life. I am content to know that God is present, loving me in ways that prod me to live with the assurance, “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
January 1, 2018
LCM
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