Psalm Meditation 1002
Proper 17
September 1, 2019
Psalm 104
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
3 you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind,
4 you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.
5 You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken.
6 You cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they flee; at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
8 They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.
10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills,
11 giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
14 You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth,
15 and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.
16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
19 You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
21 The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens.
23 People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening.
24 O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
27 These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
28 when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord!
(NRSV)
It is easy to take all of God’s works and gifts for granted, to become so used to all around us that we fail to notice and appreciate all that God has done and is doing in the world. The psalmist takes the time to look around at the world, to see as much as possible of all that God has done. The psalmist also points out at least one of the beneficiaries of these wonderful gifts God has given to the world. The psalmist may be sitting on a hillside observing each of these animals enjoying the fruits of God’s good creation. In a visual sweep, the psalmist looks side to side as well as up and down to take in and point out as much of the scene as possible.
The psalmist appears to be so excited to see this whole panorama, that the psalm gets written in the random order in which everything is observed. We might be tempted to write, revise, and edit these observations in a greater to lesser order. The scene opens the eyes of the psalmist in such a way that there is no other way to write it down than in the order in which things reveal themselves to this awe-struck writer.
It is possible to go through a day without looking up, or even outside ourselves. In some cases, it is possible to spend a day without making any contact with the natural world. We go from house to car to parking garage to office and back again without so much as a hint of fresh air or unfiltered sunshine. We get so caught up in the obligations of the day that we don’t make time to see, experience, and appreciate the world in which we live On some of those days, it is good to remind ourselves of the goodness of God and creation by reading a psalm along the lines of this one. It might even inspire us to step outside and spend some time looking at listening as the natural day unfolds before our eyes.
August 26, 2019
LCM
Monday, August 26, 2019
Monday, August 19, 2019
Psalm Meditation 1001
Proper 16
August 25, 2019
Psalm 4
1 Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.
2 How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.
6 There are many who say, “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!”
7 You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound.
8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.
(NRSV)
Each of us has a skill set that we make look easy. Our motion is fluid, our delivery is smooth, we are able to adapt in the face of missteps and accidents. Others look at our work and believe that they could do that with the same fluidity that we exhibit. And they are dreadfully mistaken. Our ease comes from years of hard work, practice, adaptation, and failure. All those years have taught us what to do in place of our natural reaction.
Something as ‘simple’ as prayer takes a lot of practice. We listen to others pray, we use prayers that others have written for our use, we adapt those practices and prayers for our own use, we realize that it is more than going through the motions as we build a relationship of trust with God. We go from asking for our laundry list to be filled to listening for ways we can grow in our relationship with God. The psalmist hears many say, “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!” These folks are expecting God to do all the work. While they are couched in more formal language, they are saying, “gimme, gimme, gimme.” The psalmist has offered right sacrifices and put trust in God. The psalmist has done the hard work of building a relationship with God.
The reason we make our skill set look easy is because we continue to put in the hard work of practicing those skills. We keep ourselves from getting complacent by working on our skills on a regular basis. The psalmist encourages us to do the same thing in our relationship with God. Keep the lines of communication open, keep doing things together, keep practicing the presence of God.
August 19, 2019
LCM
Proper 16
August 25, 2019
Psalm 4
1 Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.
2 How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.
6 There are many who say, “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!”
7 You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound.
8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.
(NRSV)
Each of us has a skill set that we make look easy. Our motion is fluid, our delivery is smooth, we are able to adapt in the face of missteps and accidents. Others look at our work and believe that they could do that with the same fluidity that we exhibit. And they are dreadfully mistaken. Our ease comes from years of hard work, practice, adaptation, and failure. All those years have taught us what to do in place of our natural reaction.
Something as ‘simple’ as prayer takes a lot of practice. We listen to others pray, we use prayers that others have written for our use, we adapt those practices and prayers for our own use, we realize that it is more than going through the motions as we build a relationship of trust with God. We go from asking for our laundry list to be filled to listening for ways we can grow in our relationship with God. The psalmist hears many say, “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!” These folks are expecting God to do all the work. While they are couched in more formal language, they are saying, “gimme, gimme, gimme.” The psalmist has offered right sacrifices and put trust in God. The psalmist has done the hard work of building a relationship with God.
The reason we make our skill set look easy is because we continue to put in the hard work of practicing those skills. We keep ourselves from getting complacent by working on our skills on a regular basis. The psalmist encourages us to do the same thing in our relationship with God. Keep the lines of communication open, keep doing things together, keep practicing the presence of God.
August 19, 2019
LCM
Monday, August 12, 2019
Psalm Meditation 1000
Proper 15
August 18, 2019
Psalm 79
1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the air for food, the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.
5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.
8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes.
11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power preserve those doomed to die.
12 Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord!
13 Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
(NRSV)
Israel was beat up and bullied by the surrounding nations more often than it was victorious over them. This psalm recounts one of those times. The nation had been overrun, Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple was defiled. The people had been killed in the streets and the bodies left unburied. It was not the outcome anyone in Israel wanted. The assumption is that God was angry with them and stepped out of the way so the nation could be devastated. The psalmist is ready for God to turn that fierce anger to the surrounding nations who have done such damage to God’s chosen people.
The psalmist is aware of the presence of sin, otherwise God would not allow these neighboring enemies to overrun the nation. There is no confession of sin, only the acknowledgement of it. The psalmist, and probably the rest of the nation, are ready for all the destruction to be finished. If God will deliver them from these wages of sin, they will tell each other, and generations to come, that God is good and glorious.
Whether we are being bullied or are guilty of being the bully we do well to turn to God. We then open ourselves to receive the comforting presence of God or the gracious judgement that comes from God. Chances are the we have our occasions of each. Either way, if we are moving toward God to the best of our ability, we will find that God is with us. “Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.”
August 12, 2019
LCM
Proper 15
August 18, 2019
Psalm 79
1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the air for food, the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors, mocked and derided by those around us.
5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.
8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes.
11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power preserve those doomed to die.
12 Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord!
13 Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
(NRSV)
Israel was beat up and bullied by the surrounding nations more often than it was victorious over them. This psalm recounts one of those times. The nation had been overrun, Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple was defiled. The people had been killed in the streets and the bodies left unburied. It was not the outcome anyone in Israel wanted. The assumption is that God was angry with them and stepped out of the way so the nation could be devastated. The psalmist is ready for God to turn that fierce anger to the surrounding nations who have done such damage to God’s chosen people.
The psalmist is aware of the presence of sin, otherwise God would not allow these neighboring enemies to overrun the nation. There is no confession of sin, only the acknowledgement of it. The psalmist, and probably the rest of the nation, are ready for all the destruction to be finished. If God will deliver them from these wages of sin, they will tell each other, and generations to come, that God is good and glorious.
Whether we are being bullied or are guilty of being the bully we do well to turn to God. We then open ourselves to receive the comforting presence of God or the gracious judgement that comes from God. Chances are the we have our occasions of each. Either way, if we are moving toward God to the best of our ability, we will find that God is with us. “Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.”
August 12, 2019
LCM
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Psalm Meditation 999
Proper 14
August 11, 2019
Psalm 53
1 Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts; there is no one who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.
4 Have they no knowledge, those evildoers, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?
5 There they shall be in great terror, in terror such as has not been. For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.
(NRSV)
I hope I am not the only one who has ever looked down my nose at all the other people in a group, knowing that I am better at our task than any of them. After a suitable time I realize that I have so much to learn from each of the folks around me. And it finally sinks in that the people who at the top of their game in any subject are the ones who know there is something to learn from each person. Those of us who think we know everything already are simply unaware of how much there is to learn.
It seems that the psalmist may be guilty of being the only one who is pure enough to see God at work in the world. It would be good if the psalmist was willing to be counted among those who have fallen away, however the reference is to ‘they’ rather than ‘we.’ In truth, we are counted among the fallen, the perverse, the evildoers. We are guilty of being less than we aim toward, guilty of failing to live up to our own expectations, let alone those of God. For each of us to stand apart from everyone else, to stand in judgment against everyone else is the height of arrogance, bordering on idolatry.
When we set ourselves in a position to act in the place of God, we lose sight of ourselves. It is when we see ourselves as impossibly lost without the intervention of God that we become open to the salvation and deliverance that God is ready and willing to offer to us. When we see ourselves as dependent on God’s grace and mercy we can begin to seek after God.
August 7, 2019
LCM
Proper 14
August 11, 2019
Psalm 53
1 Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts; there is no one who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.
4 Have they no knowledge, those evildoers, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?
5 There they shall be in great terror, in terror such as has not been. For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.
(NRSV)
I hope I am not the only one who has ever looked down my nose at all the other people in a group, knowing that I am better at our task than any of them. After a suitable time I realize that I have so much to learn from each of the folks around me. And it finally sinks in that the people who at the top of their game in any subject are the ones who know there is something to learn from each person. Those of us who think we know everything already are simply unaware of how much there is to learn.
It seems that the psalmist may be guilty of being the only one who is pure enough to see God at work in the world. It would be good if the psalmist was willing to be counted among those who have fallen away, however the reference is to ‘they’ rather than ‘we.’ In truth, we are counted among the fallen, the perverse, the evildoers. We are guilty of being less than we aim toward, guilty of failing to live up to our own expectations, let alone those of God. For each of us to stand apart from everyone else, to stand in judgment against everyone else is the height of arrogance, bordering on idolatry.
When we set ourselves in a position to act in the place of God, we lose sight of ourselves. It is when we see ourselves as impossibly lost without the intervention of God that we become open to the salvation and deliverance that God is ready and willing to offer to us. When we see ourselves as dependent on God’s grace and mercy we can begin to seek after God.
August 7, 2019
LCM
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