Psalm Meditation 972
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
February 3, 2019
Psalm 98
1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.
2 The LORD has made known his victory; he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy
9 at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
(NRSV)
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like music. I know people whose taste in music differs from mine; however, I don’t know any who don’t like music at all. When the psalmist calls us to sing, we each have a way to join in. We can express our joy and thanks to God in some way. Some use their voices, some give voice to musical instruments, some let their hearts soar with praise without a sound coming from their lips.
The important part is to find a way to praise God for all the marvelous things we experience as people of God. Praise flows out of some people. We hear it in their voices, we see it in their faces, we experience it in the way they carry themselves. There are others whose praise is held in check for some reason. Their joy is full yet their expression and demeanor are no different than when they feel a different emotion. Either way, the joy and praise are real to each person.
The psalmist calls the whole earth to sing praises to God. Sometimes we notice the ways the earth celebrates and rejoices; waving branches, dancing grasses, roaring waves, babbling brooks, and beautiful displays of vibrant color, just to name a few. The earth and the psalmist teach us that we can express our joy and praise in a variety of ways. If it expresses our joy in the presence of God, it is a new song of joy and praise.
January 28, 2019
LCM
Monday, January 28, 2019
Monday, January 21, 2019
Psalm Meditation 971
Third Sunday After Epiphany
January 27, 2019
Psalm 103
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The LORD works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him.
14 For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
19 The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, obedient to his spoken word.
21 Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will.
22 Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul.
(NRSV)
This is one of my favorite psalms. My dad would wake my brother and me with the first two verses sometimes. Mom would tell us it was time to get up, while dad would use a few lines of Scripture or poetry to let us know why it was we were getting up. I am not sure any of us knew that was what he was doing, however it was memorable, and the first two verses of this psalm are indelibly printed in my memory because of having been waked up to the sound of Dad’s voice reciting them.
The psalm continues with a list of reasons to bless YHWH, which reminds us that our interactions with God are all in response to all the ways God has already been active in our lives. God forgives, heals, redeems, crowns us with steadfast love and mercy, satisfies, and renews us; and that is just the first few verses. The psalm goes on to list ways God watches out for us as well as those outside our circle. This psalm reminds us that God is on the side of the oppressed, downtrodden, and forgotten while loving each of us with a steadfast, unshakeable love.
Tempting as it is to curse those who are not like us, to curse those who disagree with us, to curse those who hold some kind of power over us, the psalmist calls us to bless God. To focus on the good things of God is a more healthy way to use our energy. Our change of focus won’t change the people around us, however it can change the way we perceive them. They are still not like us, they still disagree with us, they still have some power over us, however we, and they, are in the category of those who are loved and cherished by God.
January 21, 2019
LCM
Third Sunday After Epiphany
January 27, 2019
Psalm 103
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The LORD works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him.
14 For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
19 The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, obedient to his spoken word.
21 Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will.
22 Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul.
(NRSV)
This is one of my favorite psalms. My dad would wake my brother and me with the first two verses sometimes. Mom would tell us it was time to get up, while dad would use a few lines of Scripture or poetry to let us know why it was we were getting up. I am not sure any of us knew that was what he was doing, however it was memorable, and the first two verses of this psalm are indelibly printed in my memory because of having been waked up to the sound of Dad’s voice reciting them.
The psalm continues with a list of reasons to bless YHWH, which reminds us that our interactions with God are all in response to all the ways God has already been active in our lives. God forgives, heals, redeems, crowns us with steadfast love and mercy, satisfies, and renews us; and that is just the first few verses. The psalm goes on to list ways God watches out for us as well as those outside our circle. This psalm reminds us that God is on the side of the oppressed, downtrodden, and forgotten while loving each of us with a steadfast, unshakeable love.
Tempting as it is to curse those who are not like us, to curse those who disagree with us, to curse those who hold some kind of power over us, the psalmist calls us to bless God. To focus on the good things of God is a more healthy way to use our energy. Our change of focus won’t change the people around us, however it can change the way we perceive them. They are still not like us, they still disagree with us, they still have some power over us, however we, and they, are in the category of those who are loved and cherished by God.
January 21, 2019
LCM
Monday, January 14, 2019
Psalm Meditation 970
Second Sunday After the Epiphany
January 20, 2019
Psalm 48
1 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain,
2 beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.
3 Within its citadels God has shown himself a sure defense.
4 Then the kings assembled, they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic, they took to flight;
6 trembling took hold of them there, pains as of a woman in labor,
7 as when an east wind shatters the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God establishes forever. Selah
9 We ponder your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.
10 Your name, O God, like your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with victory.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad, let the towns of Judah rejoice because of your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, go all around it, count its towers,
13 consider well its ramparts; go through its citadels, that you may tell the next generation
14 that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever.
(NRSV)
At some point in my childhood the big brag was, ‘My dad can beat up your dad.’ Thinking back, that was not really a day to day conversation that any of us had, it was the set up for a joke or the plot of a TV show. There may be children and dads who feel the need to be the biggest and strongest, however that was not really a topic of discussion among the people around whom I grew up. The psalmist seems to be doing that kind of bragging about the LORD.
“Our God is bigger and better than yours, and, on top of that, the city where our God dwells is better than yours, too.” The psalmist continues the boast by letting the audience know that when all the rulers of the world gathered against us, they were so astounded by the city of God that they turned and ran away, each to their own nation. That is a pretty impressive picture. One of my professors told me, that despite the brags in Scripture, Israel was a small nation that spent more time under the thumb of larger nations than it did as a free, self governed realm. Even if the brags about the nation are a little over the top doesn’t mean that the bragging about the LORD are in the same category.
It is not the bigger and stronger parts that make the LORD the God for us, it is the steadfast love. Even when we get caught up in the competition over whose divinity is the biggest and strongest, the LORD, YHWH, loves us beyond measure and comprehension. It turns out that it is not really about us and what we do, it is about God, who chooses to love us no matter who we are and what we do. I have a t-shirt that says, “Jesus loves you, but I’m his favorite.” I believe that each one of us could wear one of those shirts at the same time and it would be a true and accurate statement about how God loves each of us.
January 14, 2019
LCM
Second Sunday After the Epiphany
January 20, 2019
Psalm 48
1 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain,
2 beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.
3 Within its citadels God has shown himself a sure defense.
4 Then the kings assembled, they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic, they took to flight;
6 trembling took hold of them there, pains as of a woman in labor,
7 as when an east wind shatters the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God establishes forever. Selah
9 We ponder your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.
10 Your name, O God, like your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with victory.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad, let the towns of Judah rejoice because of your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, go all around it, count its towers,
13 consider well its ramparts; go through its citadels, that you may tell the next generation
14 that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever.
(NRSV)
At some point in my childhood the big brag was, ‘My dad can beat up your dad.’ Thinking back, that was not really a day to day conversation that any of us had, it was the set up for a joke or the plot of a TV show. There may be children and dads who feel the need to be the biggest and strongest, however that was not really a topic of discussion among the people around whom I grew up. The psalmist seems to be doing that kind of bragging about the LORD.
“Our God is bigger and better than yours, and, on top of that, the city where our God dwells is better than yours, too.” The psalmist continues the boast by letting the audience know that when all the rulers of the world gathered against us, they were so astounded by the city of God that they turned and ran away, each to their own nation. That is a pretty impressive picture. One of my professors told me, that despite the brags in Scripture, Israel was a small nation that spent more time under the thumb of larger nations than it did as a free, self governed realm. Even if the brags about the nation are a little over the top doesn’t mean that the bragging about the LORD are in the same category.
It is not the bigger and stronger parts that make the LORD the God for us, it is the steadfast love. Even when we get caught up in the competition over whose divinity is the biggest and strongest, the LORD, YHWH, loves us beyond measure and comprehension. It turns out that it is not really about us and what we do, it is about God, who chooses to love us no matter who we are and what we do. I have a t-shirt that says, “Jesus loves you, but I’m his favorite.” I believe that each one of us could wear one of those shirts at the same time and it would be a true and accurate statement about how God loves each of us.
January 14, 2019
LCM
Monday, January 7, 2019
Psalm Meditation 969
Baptism of the Lord
January 13, 2019
Psalm 5
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; give heed to my sighing.
2 Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
3 O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil will not sojourn with you.
5 The boastful will not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house, I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouths; their hearts are destruction; their throats are open graves; they flatter with their tongues.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of their many transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover them with favor as with a shield.
(NRSV)
Most of us believe that the world is fair, at least most of the time. We believe that we deserve what we get and that we get what we deserve in terms of reward and punishment. When things do not work out the way they should we are hurt and angry. When ‘those’ people win and our people lose we are doubly upset by the unfairness of it all. The psalmist knows that evildoers will be caught and punished, eventually. We join the psalmist in knowing that those who are mean spirited and selfish will get caught up in the web of their own making at some point. We may say that we know the world is not fair, and we will comfort or confront people with the words, “life is not fair.” but we continue to believe that life is, or should be, fair; if not in every instance, in the long run anyway.
The psalmist is of an era in which God actively rewards and punishes people and groups according to their actions. A big part of the reason that life is fair in the first place is because God watches over us, keeps score for us, and evens the playing field when it becomes necessary. God punishes the bad people when their evil deeds get out of hand. God rewards us good people when we have gone without for long enough. If we wait long enough everything will work out for good people as the bad people receive the punishment God has reserved for them.
What if God loves us and chooses to be with us no matter what rather than standing apart as an impartial judge and referee. When things go well, God is there to celebrate with us. When things go badly, God is there to give us comfort. God does not change the rules to make things easier for the good guys. God allows things to play out, knowing that the rewards and punishments are built in. My dad taught me to be a short range pessimist and a long range optimist. Things won't always work out in the day to day scheme of things, however, eventually things work out.
January 7, 2019
LCM
Baptism of the Lord
January 13, 2019
Psalm 5
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; give heed to my sighing.
2 Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
3 O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil will not sojourn with you.
5 The boastful will not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house, I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouths; their hearts are destruction; their throats are open graves; they flatter with their tongues.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of their many transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover them with favor as with a shield.
(NRSV)
Most of us believe that the world is fair, at least most of the time. We believe that we deserve what we get and that we get what we deserve in terms of reward and punishment. When things do not work out the way they should we are hurt and angry. When ‘those’ people win and our people lose we are doubly upset by the unfairness of it all. The psalmist knows that evildoers will be caught and punished, eventually. We join the psalmist in knowing that those who are mean spirited and selfish will get caught up in the web of their own making at some point. We may say that we know the world is not fair, and we will comfort or confront people with the words, “life is not fair.” but we continue to believe that life is, or should be, fair; if not in every instance, in the long run anyway.
The psalmist is of an era in which God actively rewards and punishes people and groups according to their actions. A big part of the reason that life is fair in the first place is because God watches over us, keeps score for us, and evens the playing field when it becomes necessary. God punishes the bad people when their evil deeds get out of hand. God rewards us good people when we have gone without for long enough. If we wait long enough everything will work out for good people as the bad people receive the punishment God has reserved for them.
What if God loves us and chooses to be with us no matter what rather than standing apart as an impartial judge and referee. When things go well, God is there to celebrate with us. When things go badly, God is there to give us comfort. God does not change the rules to make things easier for the good guys. God allows things to play out, knowing that the rewards and punishments are built in. My dad taught me to be a short range pessimist and a long range optimist. Things won't always work out in the day to day scheme of things, however, eventually things work out.
January 7, 2019
LCM
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