Psalm Meditation 950
Proper 17
September 2, 2018
Psalm 140
1 Deliver me, O LORD, from evildoers; protect me from those who are violent,
2 who plan evil things in their minds and stir up wars continually.
3 They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s, and under their lips is the venom of vipers. Selah
4 Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent who have planned my downfall.
5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net, along the road they have set snares for me. Selah
6 I say to the LORD, “You are my God; give ear, O LORD, to the voice of my supplications.”
7 O LORD, my Lord, my strong deliverer, you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8 Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; do not further their evil plot. Selah
9 Those who surround me lift up their heads; let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
10 Let burning coals fall on them! Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!
11 Do not let the slanderer be established in the land; let evil speedily hunt down the violent!
12 I know that the LORD maintains the cause of the needy, and executes justice for the poor.
13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall live in your presence.
(NRSV)
When someone attacks us it is tempting to ask God to let us get back at them. ‘Let me be the one who exacts revenge for the terrible things they have done to me. Let me rise up and beat them down.’ We like the idea of getting back at the folks who have treated us badly. Some of the psalms look forward to destroying our enemies and adversaries, including causing the death of their children. There is something brutally, cathartically satisfying about being the one who gets to show ‘those’ people that there is a price to pay for picking on ‘us.’
This psalmist asks God to be the one who exercises judgment on ‘those’ people. While there is a list of preferred punishments: burning coals on their heads, being flung into pits, having the mischief of their lips overwhelm them just to name a few, the psalmist leaves it in the hands of God. This is a good idea. It is possible that what seems punishment in our eyes is nothing to our adversaries. There are people who enjoy things that are torture to us and are tortured by what gives us great joy. Since God knows each of us well we can leave the judgment to the one who knows what judgment to exact.
Leaving judgment in the hands of God can be satisfying, frustrating, and educational. God metes our proper and appropriate judgment, eventually. The slow pace of judgment can be frustrating. We want large and immediate action when it comes to those who stand against us and God moves in slow small ways. Judgment can be educational when we discover that the one at fault is not our opponent but ourselves. In this case the slow pace of God’s judgment gives us time to recognize the errors or our ways, apologize, ask forgiveness, and change before we feel the full force of God’s discipline.
August 27, 2018
LCM
Monday, August 27, 2018
Monday, August 20, 2018
Psalm Meditation 949
Proper 16
August 26, 2018
Psalm 61
1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I;
3 for you are my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
4 Let me abide in your tent forever, find refuge under the shelter of your wings. Selah
5 For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations!
7 May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8 So I will always sing praises to your name, as I pay my vows day after day.
(NRSV)
When we were in England many years ago we visited the valley from which we get our last name. Some of us climbed up to the cave in the hillside. From the mouth of the cave we could look over the valley. At least one of us climbed the rest of the way to stand on the outcrop over the mouth of the cave. The view was both frightening and exhilarating. From his place on the edge of the rock face my brother could look down on the valley and saw birds flying in the sky below him. It must have been this kind of rock to which the psalmist anticipated being led.
To be able to see every direction and to be able to look down on friend and foe alike gives one a great sense of security. That kind of view makes it difficult to be surprised by any type of approach. It is a great and comforting view. When God is the one who has led us to that point, we can rest assured that it is a safe place from all but the most concentrated attack. To know that God is with us in the place adds greatly to the sense of security.
Sometimes our high place is a physical place. A place from which we can look down in every direction to see who and what is coming our way. Sometimes our high place is a spiritual place from which we can get a sense of what is coming so that we are prepared for almost anything that comes our way. In many of those cases, a good bit of our preparation involves being wholly/holy in the presence of God. In the presence of God we can see beyond our own sight. In the presence of God we can see a vision of what is and of what can be.
August 20, 2018
LCM
Proper 16
August 26, 2018
Psalm 61
1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I;
3 for you are my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
4 Let me abide in your tent forever, find refuge under the shelter of your wings. Selah
5 For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations!
7 May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8 So I will always sing praises to your name, as I pay my vows day after day.
(NRSV)
When we were in England many years ago we visited the valley from which we get our last name. Some of us climbed up to the cave in the hillside. From the mouth of the cave we could look over the valley. At least one of us climbed the rest of the way to stand on the outcrop over the mouth of the cave. The view was both frightening and exhilarating. From his place on the edge of the rock face my brother could look down on the valley and saw birds flying in the sky below him. It must have been this kind of rock to which the psalmist anticipated being led.
To be able to see every direction and to be able to look down on friend and foe alike gives one a great sense of security. That kind of view makes it difficult to be surprised by any type of approach. It is a great and comforting view. When God is the one who has led us to that point, we can rest assured that it is a safe place from all but the most concentrated attack. To know that God is with us in the place adds greatly to the sense of security.
Sometimes our high place is a physical place. A place from which we can look down in every direction to see who and what is coming our way. Sometimes our high place is a spiritual place from which we can get a sense of what is coming so that we are prepared for almost anything that comes our way. In many of those cases, a good bit of our preparation involves being wholly/holy in the presence of God. In the presence of God we can see beyond our own sight. In the presence of God we can see a vision of what is and of what can be.
August 20, 2018
LCM
Monday, August 13, 2018
Psalm Meditation 948
Proper 15
August 19, 2018
Psalm 90
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn us back to dust, and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning;
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are consumed by your anger; by your wrath we are overwhelmed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; our years come to an end like a sigh.
10 The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger? Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.
12 So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.
13 Turn, O LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands—O prosper the work of our hands!
(NRSV)
As children we don’t understand the reasoning behind parental anger. There are times we are sure that anger is totally unreasonable and unjustified. “I was just …, how could anyone be upset with me for doing that? “ We might believe that our parents keep track of each slipup, mistake, etc. so that when we have gotten enough points against us we get punished for something that doesn’t even matter. In some cases we believe that we are being punished for having too much fun. Those old fuddy-duddy parents don’t remember what it was like to be our age and how much fun it was to do whatever we got punished for doing.
When we get to be adults, and perhaps parents ourselves, we see our past behavior in a different light. Some of the things that appeared to be pure fun have consequences that we never considered at the time. Some of the activities that seemed harmless are fraught with danger lurking just beneath the surface. One wrong move would have been enough to cause terrible and lasting damage to ourselves or one of our companions in a particular adventure. We realize that our parents were able to see things that we could not. We realize that what came out as anger was fear for our safety. We realize that what felt like punishment was discipline, teaching us with limited consequences that our actions matter. And it was done out of love for us.
We see God as angry with us when the consequences of our actions come crashing down on us. We can’t imagine why God is so mean and vindictive about so many small things. Several years ago I heard, ‘we are not so much punished for our sins as we are punished by our sins.’ God does not stand over us waiting for an excuse to zap us, or willy-nilly visit us with punishments, trials, and calamities. Sadly, we can be caught by the sins of others as we pay the price for their deeds. God is not out to get us. God loves us and wants what the psalmist wants, “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands—O prosper the work of our hands!
August 13, 2018
LCM
Proper 15
August 19, 2018
Psalm 90
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn us back to dust, and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning;
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are consumed by your anger; by your wrath we are overwhelmed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; our years come to an end like a sigh.
10 The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger? Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.
12 So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.
13 Turn, O LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands—O prosper the work of our hands!
(NRSV)
As children we don’t understand the reasoning behind parental anger. There are times we are sure that anger is totally unreasonable and unjustified. “I was just …, how could anyone be upset with me for doing that? “ We might believe that our parents keep track of each slipup, mistake, etc. so that when we have gotten enough points against us we get punished for something that doesn’t even matter. In some cases we believe that we are being punished for having too much fun. Those old fuddy-duddy parents don’t remember what it was like to be our age and how much fun it was to do whatever we got punished for doing.
When we get to be adults, and perhaps parents ourselves, we see our past behavior in a different light. Some of the things that appeared to be pure fun have consequences that we never considered at the time. Some of the activities that seemed harmless are fraught with danger lurking just beneath the surface. One wrong move would have been enough to cause terrible and lasting damage to ourselves or one of our companions in a particular adventure. We realize that our parents were able to see things that we could not. We realize that what came out as anger was fear for our safety. We realize that what felt like punishment was discipline, teaching us with limited consequences that our actions matter. And it was done out of love for us.
We see God as angry with us when the consequences of our actions come crashing down on us. We can’t imagine why God is so mean and vindictive about so many small things. Several years ago I heard, ‘we are not so much punished for our sins as we are punished by our sins.’ God does not stand over us waiting for an excuse to zap us, or willy-nilly visit us with punishments, trials, and calamities. Sadly, we can be caught by the sins of others as we pay the price for their deeds. God is not out to get us. God loves us and wants what the psalmist wants, “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands—O prosper the work of our hands!
August 13, 2018
LCM
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Psalm Meditation 947
Proper 14
August 12, 2018
Psalm 111
1 Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds; the LORD is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.
(NRSV)
I thought this psalm was about praise and fear of the LORD and maybe next time it will be. This time it is about God providing for those who live in fear. This fear is not being scared, it is being in awe of God. It is the myterium tremendum, being excited and frightened all at once. It is wanting to approach and run away so that all one can do is stand and tremble. God sees our dilemma and provides sustenance out of a great love for us.
That providence feeds our excitement, that God cares enough to attend to us. The food God offers touches body and soul in a way that lets us know how very loved we are. In the presence of God we see ourselves as included in the depth and width of people who make up the family of God. We tremble with excitement as we partake of the sustaining bounty that God provides for us.
The providence of God scares us. There is something frightening about being noticed by those who have authority over us. We want what God offers to us even as we recognize that getting close enough to partake in the food we are offered also puts us close enough to be drawn in to something that has the potential of drawing us in a way that might make us disappear.
We stand in the presence of God, on the verge of running away from and into God’s hands. Will we be nurtured or crushed? “The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.” We continue to be in awe, to be trembling messes longing to be redeemed, longing to be drawn into the comfort of God’s loving presence.
August 7, 2018
LCM
Proper 14
August 12, 2018
Psalm 111
1 Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds; the LORD is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.
(NRSV)
I thought this psalm was about praise and fear of the LORD and maybe next time it will be. This time it is about God providing for those who live in fear. This fear is not being scared, it is being in awe of God. It is the myterium tremendum, being excited and frightened all at once. It is wanting to approach and run away so that all one can do is stand and tremble. God sees our dilemma and provides sustenance out of a great love for us.
That providence feeds our excitement, that God cares enough to attend to us. The food God offers touches body and soul in a way that lets us know how very loved we are. In the presence of God we see ourselves as included in the depth and width of people who make up the family of God. We tremble with excitement as we partake of the sustaining bounty that God provides for us.
The providence of God scares us. There is something frightening about being noticed by those who have authority over us. We want what God offers to us even as we recognize that getting close enough to partake in the food we are offered also puts us close enough to be drawn in to something that has the potential of drawing us in a way that might make us disappear.
We stand in the presence of God, on the verge of running away from and into God’s hands. Will we be nurtured or crushed? “The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.” We continue to be in awe, to be trembling messes longing to be redeemed, longing to be drawn into the comfort of God’s loving presence.
August 7, 2018
LCM
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