Psalm Meditation 1072 Epiphany Sunday January 3, 2021 Psalm 91 1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, 2 will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” 3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; 4 he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. 5 You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day, 6 or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only look with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, 10 no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot. 14 Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. 15 When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. 16 With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation. (NRSV) In every time and place there are folks who will find and make ways to test our love and loyalty. In times of stress and trauma these folks seem to need to test our loyalty more deeply and more regularly. There are those who will test the limits of this psalm on a regular basis. There are congregations in which the faithful will handle venomous snakes for a variety of reasons. I can only guess what those reasons might be. It seems that some handle snakes in worship as a way to demonstrate their faith, while others do it to test the faithfulness of God in the face of danger. Those who don’t handle snakes have other ways of demonstrating faith or testing God. Making bargains with or making demands on God are a couple of the ways many of us have been known to test the limits of God’s love for us. “If you do this for me, I will do that for you.” is a familiar bargaining method. It usually requires God to stretch the laws of Creation to the breaking point or beyond. And our reaction to God’s action places some regular inconvenience in our path. “God, you need to do this for us because we told all our friends you would, and we would hate for you to look bad in front of all these people.” goes beyond bargaining to demanding that God act. And if our demands are met we do not give thanks to God, we give an ‘I told you so,’ look to our friends. God loves us without condition and will be with us through all of the calamities and traumas that happen in our lives. If we get sick or hurt it does not mean that God has abandoned us. God is with us through it all. God will always be ready as a solid refuge from all of our troubles and trials, just as God is with us in each of our moments of joy and ease. We may not be rescued from trial the way we ask or expect, however, God is with us. “When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.” December 28, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1071 First Sunday After Christmas December 27, 2020 Psalm 65 1 Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; and to you shall vows be performed, 2 O you who answer prayer! To you all flesh shall come. 3 When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, you forgive our transgressions. 4 Happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple. 5 By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. 6 By your strength you established the mountains; you are girded with might. 7 You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples. 8 Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs; you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy. 9 You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. 10 You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. 11 You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness. 12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, 13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. (NRSV) God gives us a lot to be thankful for. God hears our prayers as they range from praise and thanksgiving to prayers that ask for action on our behalf. God offers us forgiveness when we reach the point at which we are overwhelmed by our sinful actions. God draws us to live in the divine presence as a gift from God’s heart. God provides us a rich variety and abundance from the earth with which to satisfy our needs in proper season. We have every reason to be in awe of the power of God in our lives. The better things are going for us the easier it is to forget the source of all of our good things. We begin to believe that what we have is due to our own hard work and that we have somehow done enough to deserve all that we have. God is not mean spirited enough to take it all away from us so that we will once again see the hand of God at work in our lives. I am sure that God is content to provide for us without having that generosity acknowledged at every turn. And God is pleased when we do notice the divine hand at work in our lives. Some folks live in a constant state of awe, on the edge of being overwhelmed by the activity of God around us. Some folks take time in every day to give thanks to God for providing for our needs and wants. Some folks express gratitude even when they are not feeling very grateful in hopes that saying it will help make it happen. God is at work in our lives whether we notice and acknowledge it or not. “Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; and to you shall vows be performed, O you who answer prayer! To you all flesh shall come.” December 21, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1070 Fourth Sunday of Advent December 20, 2020 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) Those who live and work in any sort of public sphere will live with criticism from those around us. Anything that we say or do will be open for comment from those who are in the room with us, to those who heard about it second hand, to those who simply want to jump in to a complaint fest. Some of the critiques are valid and will benefit us as we are able to address them for ourselves. Some are valid points of view in which we acknowledge our difference of opinion, learn to live with the differences, or part company in some way. Some are mean spirited and if we comply with their demands, the demands will change so that we are continually in the wrong. Prayer is a fitting response to any type of criticism. It opens us to the workings of God in our lives. Most of the time the transformation that takes place in prayer is not about what is going on outside us, the transformation is from within. When the criticism is valid we make the change because it makes sense to us to do so. Even the mean spirited, destructive complaints have the potential of teaching us how to move forward in our lives despite the intentions of the complainer. Whether burning coals fall on folks as they fall into pits filled with evil because of what they have said to us and about us, we can see their influence drop off in our lives. Even as the wounds and scars remain, the people who inflicted them will lose their power and influence over our lives. The other person will not have changed, it will be our attitude toward them that will have changed. In some cases those who have been a source of evil in our lives will meet a fate that falls in line with our fantasies and supplications lifted to God. Sometimes those folks will go through a conversion experience of their own, will ask our forgiveness for their previous behavior, and all will be well between us. Most of the time we will have a change of heart about them. We will see them in a new light that makes their attacks understandable by putting them into a perspective based on their life and experience. Our transformation is rarely instant, it takes weeks and maybe decades to nurture the change within ourselves without feeling beat down by our original perception of the complaint and the complainer. December 14, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1069 Third Sunday of Advent December 13, 2020 Psalm 40 1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. 4 Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods. 5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted. 6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 7 Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” 9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. 10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. 11 Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever. 12 For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me. 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me. 14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt. 15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” 16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” 17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God. (NRSV) Music makes a difference in our lives. In the midst of grief and trauma we may lose the ability to be touched and moved by music, and we may not be able to hear the songs that rise up within us. We can still sing, and play any instruments with the same skill we had prior to our life changing event but we can’t feel the music stir our hearts and souls to the heights and depths of glory in the same way we could before. When the psalmist writes, “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” it strikes a chord with those of us who have heard and felt the newness God offers. As we grieve, a space is hollowed out within us that draws us down to a desolate pit that seems as if it will hold us down forever. At some point God reaches in and offers to pull us “up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.” As a part of pulling us out of the depths God re-invigorates the gift of music within us. When we get the music back we may feel it more deeply as the well of grief allows us a new depth of passion and emotion in our song. Some people never get beyond their grief. They hold on to it as if it is the only connection left to the way life used to be. They rehearse it and renew it on a regular basis. They refuse to look up to see the hand of God offering to pull them out of the pit. Others see God at work in their lives and take God’s hand when it is offered to them. The pit remains in both cases. For some it is a stifling enclosure that holds them tightly for the rest of their lives. For others it becomes a place that adds depth to their lives and allows them a new and deeper well of understanding of themselves and others. December 7, 2020 LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/

Psalm Meditation 1068 Second Sunday of Advent December 6, 2020 Psalm 115 1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and our faithfulness. 2 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” 3 Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats. 8 Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them. 9 O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. 12 The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; 13 he will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great. 14 May the Lord give you increase, both you and your children. 15 May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to human beings. 17 The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any that go down into silence. 18 But we will bless the Lord from this time on and forevermore. Praise the Lord! (NRSV) There will always be those who believe differently from us. It is likely that each of us believes a slight variation of what those around us believe. It is the variety that makes for interesting discussion, raging arguments, and a variety of schools of thought within many religious groups. We are willing to give each other some leeway in beliefs as long as we agree on some fundamentals of the faith. Once we pass the threshold of tolerance we feel the need to part ways since ‘those’ people are so wrong that we can no longer stand to be in the same room with them. Once that split is made, ‘those’ people are no longer seen as different, they are seen as wrong. Since they are wrong they can be lumped together into large groups of evil, sinful people whose errors in faith, belief, and practice will doom them to an eternity of suffering, death, or total annihilation. The psalmist says it this way, “The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any that go down into silence.” Since people are rarely hated or bullied into faithfulness, we would do well to practice our faith in such a way that we model a life of faith and trust in God. Salvation is not something we can earn for ourselves, or that we can give to others. Salvation is a gift that God gives. Perhaps our lives of faith will serve as an example for others. People are drawn more quickly to an example of blessing from God than from constant judgment from folks who claim to do so in the name of God. “May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” November 30, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1067 First Sunday of Advent November 29, 2020 Psalm 15 1 O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? 2 Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; 3 who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors; 4 in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honor those who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt; 5 who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved. (NRSV) We like to know the rules and expectations when we are involved in an activity or game. We are especially intent on the rules when our lives are on the line, so this is one of the psalms we should each have memorized. My guess is that we have paid little attention to this psalm because these rules are hard. Each of three verses has three rules, with two rules in the last verse. In each verse there is at least one difficult rule. Chances are that the difficult rule is different from person to person. Most of us have found a way to justify our actions when we enforce the rules for everyone, except ourselves. We are perfectly content to have one set of rules for our people and a different set for ‘those’ people. In a lot of cases we may not even realize that we make things more difficult for those who are not like us. When we get called out on our inconsistencies we deny that we look at one group differently than another. And if we can point out ‘their’ inconsistencies easily, we are probably guilty of some of our own. If we have to keep all of these rules all the time in order to be welcomed into God’s tent on God’s holy hill, I imagine that it will be a small tent with very few people, if any, in it. We are left to hope that we have some way of paying for our infractions of these rules: a penalty box, a foul, a do-over of some kind that makes us responsible for our actions without having to toss us out of the game. Something like God’s steadfast love and forgiveness. November 23, 2020 LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/

Psalm Meditation 1066 Reign of Christ November 22, 2020 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) One of my mentors defined anger as ‘a boat floating on a sea of fear, realize what you are afraid of and you don’t have to be so angry.’ So what is God afraid of that needs to be expressed as divine wrath? One possibility is that God is afraid for us. There are a lot of ways to move away from God and they each have a consequences. We see the glittery temptation dangling in front of us and move toward it. God’s wrath is kindled when the temptation shows its true colors and begins to do damage to us. God reacts out of fear for our safety. Some of us see God as angry and aloof as a default setting. God is always looking for reasons to be angry with us, and excuses to punish us. More accurately, God is looking for reasons to pass judgment on ‘those’ people, the ones who do all the things that we and God find annoying and sinful. Our task is to point out all the reasons that God is angry in order to force ‘them’ to do things the way they should; our way. God’s anger just happens to be directed at those with whom we disagree. The wrath of God is directed toward anything that moves someone away from the divine presence. When we emphasize the finger wagging judgment of God we are more likely to push someone away than draw them back. It is when we meet saints and sinners with the love of God that people are drawn into the divine presence and the communion of saints. It is through compassion and steadfast love that we rejoice and prosper in the presence of God. November 16, 2020 LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/

Psalm Meditation 1065 Proper 28 November 15, 2020 Psalm 64 1 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from the dread enemy. 2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the scheming of evildoers, 3 who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows, 4 shooting from ambush at the blameless; they shoot suddenly and without fear. 5 They hold fast to their evil purpose; they talk of laying snares secretly, thinking, “Who can see us? 6 Who can search out our crimes? We have thought out a cunningly conceived plot.” For the human heart and mind are deep. 7 But God will shoot his arrow at them; they will be wounded suddenly. 8 Because of their tongue he will bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake with horror. 9 Then everyone will fear; they will tell what God has brought about, and ponder what he has done. 10 Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him. Let all the upright in heart glory. (NRSV) The tongue is a symbol of what we can do with our thoughts and words. We can use them for helping and healing, or as in this psalm, to do great damage. We can inflict deep wounds from a great distance with a few words. Sometimes our words are carefully chosen to do maximum damage, other times the damage is done because we do not consider our words before we speak them. Some of the deadliest wounds are inflicted by poisoning others against the actual target of our words. One well phrased rumor can do immense damage if enough people spread it widely enough. The psalmist asks to be delivered from those who have planned and plotted to do damage to another with their words. A part of the plot is the rationale and excuses that words only hurt if they are true. Experience teaches that anything heard often enough becomes true in the minds of the hearers. The plots and plans can arise organically. One person starts a rumor, another person finds it juicy and passes it on. It takes on a life of its own and becomes true among those who spread it even if there is no evidence to back it up. The psalmist doesn’t even have to ask for help as God begins to take aim at those who speak with malice and in hopes of doing great damage to another. The arrows of God may not save the current target of the malicious group, however they do pay a price eventually. The ones who consistently spread damaging words will be seen as folks who cannot be trusted. People will stop talking to them for fear that anything and everything will be used to fuel the rumor mill. Through it all God will be with us, offering us refuge from those who are out to hurt us and to lead us away from any inclination to hurt others. November 9, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1064 Proper 27 November 8, 2020 Psalm 139 1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. 17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you. 19 O that you would kill the wicked, O God, and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me— 20 those who speak of you maliciously, and lift themselves up against you for evil! 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. 24 See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (NRSV) Even in times we wish we could disappear, one of our great fears is that we are invisible, that we don’t matter to anyone. The psalmist goes through a list of the ways that God not only sees us, but seeks us out. Especially when we are feeling sad and sorry for ourselves it is a source of great comfort to discover that someone is thinking about us enough to seek us out, to go out of their way to look for us until we are found. The psalmist goes through a list of possible hiding places, and notices that God can find us there. Whether we go to the highest height, the lowest depth, or the darkest darkness God will find us to be with us. Once we have been sought and found we develop a fierce loyalty toward that person. The psalmist goes through the list of actions that contribute to that sense of loyalty. God knows us well enough to know where to look for us. God gathers us into a comforting embrace we need that. God makes words unnecessary and lets us decide if and when to speak. God helps us pull ourselves back together so we can face anything arm in arm. God helps us discover the difference between our revenge fantasies and what course of action will actually be helpful. God lets us know that the loyalty we feel toward God is felt by God toward us. God willingly seeks us out when we wander off. Sometimes God strides in to scoop us up, to let us know we are not alone as we face whatever we are facing. Sometimes God stands back watching and waiting for us to recognize our need and ask for help. Either way, God is present in the way that works in our lives. God is not there to fix things or change things, God is there to be with us, to demonstrate the love and loyalty God directs our way. November 2, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1063 All Saints Day November 1, 2020 Psalm 39 1 I said, “I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will keep a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.” 2 I was silent and still; I held my peace to no avail; my distress grew worse, 3 my heart became hot within me. While I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: 4 “Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. 5 You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Selah 6 Surely everyone goes about like a shadow. Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; they heap up, and do not know who will gather. 7 “And now, O Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool. 9 I am silent; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it. 10 Remove your stroke from me; I am worn down by the blows of your hand. 11 “You chastise mortals in punishment for sin, consuming like a moth what is dear to them; surely everyone is a mere breath. Selah 12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not hold your peace at my tears. For I am your passing guest, an alien, like all my forebears. 13 Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more.” (NRSV) Our inclination is to see God as the source of deliverance from all the terrible things we face in our lives. The psalmist is convinced that God is causing these terrible things as a punishment for some unidentified transgressions. Even as the psalmist places hope in God for relief from suffering the realization dawns that God is the one giving this beat down. Things are so bad that those who are inclined to make light of the suffering of others can see that the psalmist is being humiliated by God who is supposed to help out in situations like this. While we are quick to say that God punishes others for their sins and transgressions, we are not as quick to see God as out to get us. When Job is stripped of his possessions, assets, and loved ones his friends gather to let him know that it is his fault and if he will admit guilt and repent God will forgive him. Job is sure that there is another cause. In the end, the friends are told to apologize to Job and to have him pray for them because God is not as vindictive as the friends want to believe. The psalmist asks God to turn away so that there can be some relief before dying. Convince that God is the cause of all this suffering, the psalmist wants to be left alone by God so that there can be a moment of peace before drifting off into nothingness. Job, on the other hand, continues to hope in God for the present and the future. We too can know that God is with us. We are not promised that we will get through life with all of our stuff intact. We are promised that God will be with us. Sometimes it works out, as it did for Job, that we are able to recover and rebound. Sometimes we have to count it all loss and move ahead in the presence of God alone. October 26, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1062 Proper 25 October 25, 2020 Psalm 114 1 When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 2 Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion. 3 The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. 5 Why is it, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? 6 O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs? 7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water. (NRSV) Some days our relationship with God just barely fits into our ability to put it into words. The best we can do is describe the feeling we get when we are in the presence of God. The psalmist uses the partings of the Red Sea and the Jordan, the bookmark events of the Exodus, to get at the spectacularity of God’s activity. These things that are done just for us. The God who does these things for us also chooses to have a relationship with us. It is exciting enough to meet the one who can part a sea and open a river for crossing on dry land; to know that this same one came looking for a relationship with us is overwhelming. The relationship is not asking us to be adoring fans, God is asking us to be true companions on the journey we take together. We get to walk and talk and work side by side with the God who creates and cares for all that is. While we will probably keep a sense of awe as we settle in to our relationship with God, it is good to know that we are encouraged to give ourselves as wholeheartedly as we are able to that relationship. God allows us to forget that we are in the presence of the Creator of the universe so that we can settle in to a comfortable comradery together. God cares for us, provides for us, and invites us into an ever deepening relationship even as we invite others in to their own relationship with God. October 19, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1061 Proper 24 Laity Sunday October 18, 2020 Psalm 14 1 Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God. 3 They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one. 4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord? 5 There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the company of the righteous. 6 You would confound the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge. 7 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad. (NRSV) I am not as concerned about those who say there is no God as I am about those who say that God rigidly conforms to their way of thinking and acting. They see ‘our people’ as right and justifiable in their actions, and ‘those people’ as guilty of deep sinfulness even when both groups follow the same path. And it is almost always ‘those people’ who are most guilty of the kind of idolatry that lets them define God according to their own words and deeds. Since people on every side are guilty, God looks down to see “if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.” When God sees that we “have all gone astray,” it is time for us to look to ourselves instead of blaming ‘them’ for all the ills of the world. Granted, we see as ourselves among those who cannot bring change to the world, we are following those we believe can bring our corner of the world back to its senses. ‘It is for the rich and powerful to change the world, we simply hitch our wagon to those with whom we align most fully.’ Somewhere in all of this process we have agency to support and influence those who would run the world for our sake. And we have a responsibility to listen to those we claim to be helping with our actions. To call on an old joke punchline, we are not being helpful by leading folks across a street they did not intend to cross. Today I see verse 7 as a desire for change from the halls of human leadership. ‘If only our leaders would be the ones to deliver all people from the bonds of sin and death.’ Barring that, the psalmist is deeply aware that it is God who is the refuge and deliverer of those who have no voice in the direction of the future. Some people see their role as speaking out for the poor and needy while others see their role as giving the poor and needy the platform to speak for themselves. Either way, the psalmist and others look forward to a time, “When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.” October 12, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1060 Proper 23 October 11, 2020 Psalm 89 (selected verses) 1 I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. 2 I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens. 3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David: 4 ‘I will establish your descendants forever, and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah 5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord, 7 a God feared in the council of the holy ones, great and awesome above all that are around him? 8 O Lord God of hosts, who is as mighty as you, O Lord? Your faithfulness surrounds you. 9 You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. 10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. 11 The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it—you have founded them. 12 The north and the south—you created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name. 13 You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand. 14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. 15 Happy are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance; 16 they exult in your name all day long, and extol your righteousness. 17 For you are the glory of their strength; by your favor our horn is exalted. 18 For our shield belongs to the Lord, our king to the Holy One of Israel. 46 How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? 47 Remember how short my time is—for what vanity you have created all mortals! 48 Who can live and never see death? Who can escape the power of Sheol? Selah 49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David? 50 Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted; how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples, 51 with which your enemies taunt, O Lord, with which they taunted the footsteps of your anointed. 52 Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen and Amen. (NRSV) When things go poorly for those we don’t like, we see it as the judgment of God on them for their evil ways. We can pinpoint all the reasons that they are being punished, especially for all the ways they have picked on us. They deserve all that is happening to them because they are not like us. They are mean and heartless, as well as godless in all that they are and do. Sometimes God will single out an individual for public shaming, ridicule, and punishment while other times whole groups of people will be targeted by God’s acts of vengeance. Either way, we know that God is at work in their lives to make them pay for their evil ways. When things go badly for us we are more likely to blame those bad folks for picking on us and wishing and working for ill in our lives. We are good people of God so it couldn’t possibly be that God is punishing us in the same way that ‘those’ people get punished for doing bad things. God is not actively doing the bad things to us, God is hiding from us to allow these things to happen. Perhaps we are being disciplined for some slight sin we have committed against God, however all will be well soon enough—when God gets back. We define and deal with God on our own terms. We can’t stand back from ourselves and look at God through some objective lens. God will always be seen as behaving with the same motives we have for our actions. The only way we can see, think of, and define God is from within our own context. If we are gifted, we can see God in the light of another culture or viewpoint, however we can’t see God through any but our human lenses. What really motivates God to act among us? There are as many answers as there are people. The psalmist wants to know that God is a God of steadfast love. October 5, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1059 World Communion Sunday October 4, 2020 Psalm 63 1 O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 4 So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name. 5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips 6 when I think of you on my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; 7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. 8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. 9 But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; 10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword, they shall be prey for jackals. 11 But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped. (NRSV) This is perhaps the first psalm that touched me on its own. It was the one that met me as I was wrestling with how my call to ministry was going to impact me. I had felt called for as long as I can remember, however as I was beginning to live out this call in seminary it was taking on a deeper meaning that was a bit unsettling. The first verse became a touchstone for me. I may not know what it means and how to live out my call to ministry; I can continually claim a relationship with God and seek for what that means in a given time and place. The psalmist is also seeking out a relationship with God in an ever new and changing world. When life is at the driest and dustiest the psalmist turns to God for a new definition of how to be faithful. The psalmist finds the answer in the steadfast love of God. To live in the love of God is the epitome of wealth. I understand that money was not in common use in biblical times, so wealth was defined in terms of rich food in great amounts. To be in the presence of God is akin to sitting down to a feast of the best the world has to offer. According to the psalmist, and my own experience, a relationship with God is constantly evolving and changing. As with any relationship, it is important to nurture and cultivate it if we want it to last through the various times of our lives. Some people are content with the relationship with God they have had from the beginning. Some people notice a change in their circumstances, decide that it no longer works and walk away from their relationship with God. The psalmist recommends that we see our relationship with God as a dynamic, ever-changing one that needs work, effort, and maintenance. September 28, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1058 Proper 21 September 27, 2020 Psalm 138 1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; 2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything. 3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul. 4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth. 5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. 6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. 8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. (NRSV) We like to think of ourselves as people of God, the ones God loves and cares for; and so we are. God cares for and cares about each one of us. God does have this preference for the poor and needy, those for whom there is no help except from God. While we like to think of ourselves as special, even exceptional in the eyes of God, are we really as helpless as the psalmist seems to be? What if we are not among those who can identify with the psalmist? What if our very thoughts of exceptionalism are the haughtiness that God “perceives from far away(?)” If that were the case, we would do well to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord rather than assume that we are already among those who are gathered close to God. When we feel put upon by life’s circumstances, in need of the loving, helping hand of God, we do well to examine ourselves even as we ask for help from God. Am I one who needs God’s help to overcome an adversary, or do I need to see that other as the one who is being helped by God to receive some of what I have always seen as mine? Do I need to be helped by God, or am I in a position to be God’s helper by giving up some of what I have for the benefit of others? September 21, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1057 Proper 20 September 20, 2020 Psalm 38 1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath. 2 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me. 3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. 4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me. 5 My wounds grow foul and fester because of my foolishness; 6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all day long I go around mourning. 7 For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. 8 I am utterly spent and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart. 9 O Lord, all my longing is known to you; my sighing is not hidden from you. 10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me; as for the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. 11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction, and my neighbors stand far off. 12 Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin, and meditate treachery all day long. 13 But I am like the deaf, I do not hear; like the mute, who cannot speak. 14 Truly, I am like one who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no retort. 15 But it is for you, O Lord, that I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. 16 For I pray, “Only do not let them rejoice over me, those who boast against me when my foot slips.” 17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me. 18 I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. 19 Those who are my foes without cause are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. 20 Those who render me evil for good are my adversaries because I follow after good. 21 Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, do not be far from me; 22 make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation. (NRSV) It is possible to reach a point in our lives in which all of the unconfessed sins we have committed pile up around us and over us, crushing us with their weight. For the psalmist the weight has become such that friends and even adversaries notice that there is something going on. Friends, neighbors, and companions are at a loss as to what is needed from them, so they retreat, leaving the psalmist alone. Those who have any ax to grind see this as an opportunity to jump in and cause significant hurt in the life of the psalmist. Those out to do this damage may have been hurt by, or simply chose the psalmist as an easy target of their own hurt. The psalmist chooses to be open to the presence of God for deliverance from the weight of sin and from those who would celebrate the psalmist’s downfall. The psalmist does not ask for the destruction of these adversaries; the plea is for salvation, for a renewed sense of wholeness, and oneness with God. The psalmist models a good path for us. In the event that we wait until we are buried in our sin, it is good to confess before we are crushed by those sins. And when our friends turn away from us out of discomfort, and our adversaries move to do us harm, we do well to turn to God. The psalmist turns away from the abandonment on one hand and the attacks on the other, in order to find an answer in God. In these most dire circumstances the psalmist trusts that God is the source of salvation. September 14, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1056 Proper 19 September 13, 2020 Psalm 113 1 Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord. 2 Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time on and forevermore. 3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised. 4 The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. 5 Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, 6 who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? 7 He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap, 8 to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. 9 He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord! (NRSV) What is the best you can imagine for someone? For the psalmist it is to sit with those who have time to sit, and to have a place full of people to call home. It is possible that this picture of excellence will not fit for us. Is wealth and comfort the best the world has to offer these days. For women, the best is to have lots of children as far as the psalmist is concerned. It may have been the best the world had to offer at the time the psalm was written. Women have a lot of other avenues for fulfillment these days and are not limited to keeping house and raising children. Research has shown that wealthy people do not have a lot of empathy for those who have less than they do. Their lives confine them to thinking that the only reason the rest of us are not as well to do as they are is due to some defect on our part. They believe it is probably just a matter of making new choices and putting in some effort for us to be like them. Women are finding the freedom to things in addition to and instead of giving birth and keeping house. They are opening new horizons for themselves and others to give a whole new range of choices in career and home life. The important part of the psalm is the awareness that God wants the best for us, whether it be lazing by the pool because we can afford the time and luxury, or working hard so we can afford to provide for those who depend on us. Most importantly that we are happy and have a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. Because God loves us and wants what is best for us we have reason to praise God for all that God is and does in every part of our lives. As God wants what is best for us God also wants what is best for those around us, so that we have joy in life without oppressing others who also want the best God has to offer. September 8, 2020 LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/

Psalm Meditation 1055 Proper 18 September 6, 2020 Psalm 13 1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? 3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken. 5 But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. (NRSV) There are folks who have a fair weather faith. They are good at being faithful as long as things are going their way. If life gets hard, if things that aren’t supposed to happen to good folks like us happen anyway, if things don’t go according to our plan, they are perfectly willing to say farewell to their faith. They are then free to dispose of the remnants of their faith and go on about their lives with a bitter taste in their mouths around God and the people of God. The psalmist is going through something terrible. On top of that the psalmist feels abandoned by God at the very time when God is most needed. It would be possible, perhaps even understandable, if this was one of those times in which a person walked away from God, feeling as if God was the first to leave. But then, “I trusted in your steadfast love.” What had been a lonely and calamitous time is now made easier by recollecting the presence of God and all the ways that presence makes a difference in a person’s life. We can let the circumstances of our lives beat us down and send us away from God holding our hurts in our bodies and souls, or we can enter the presence of God and lay our hurts out between us. If we keep all this in ourselves we will carry burdens beyond our ability and they will exact a high price from us. If we offer it to God, we will find help in sorting, distributing and carrying our burdens. August 31, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1054 Proper 17 August 30, 2020 Psalm 88 1 O Lord, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence, 2 let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry. 3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. 4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help, 5 like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. 6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep. 7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah 8 You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; 9 my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call on you, O Lord; I spread out my hands to you. 10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah 11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? 12 Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness? 13 But I, O Lord, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. 14 O Lord, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me? 15 Wretched and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am desperate. 16 Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me. 17 They surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me. 18 You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me; my companions are in darkness. (NRSV) This is one of my favorite psalms. It is dark to the point of hopelessness. In one translation, the last phrase of the psalm reads, “and darkness is my only friend.” If you have ever been to that place in life you know that it can be comforting to find that someone has been there ahead of you and has put your sense of abandonment into words. As one of the few psalms to end without a word of hope, there is something memorable about it. Even as the psalmist speaks from a feeling of abandonment, the psalm is addressed to God. It is a complaint and lament aimed directly at God. The psalmist puts words to the anger, fear, isolation, and sadness that holds us hostage when we feel as if we are the only ones who have ever felt this badly. At the very least we are the only ones feeling this swirl of emotion in this time and place. The psalmist has given us this psalm as a gift. When we have no words to express ourselves, here is a psalm to put something into words as we stand up to God. While some are quick to say that we are not to get angry with God, I am of the mind that if God didn’t want me to feel anger, why do I have it? And, if God can’t handle my anger when it is aimed at God, why would I ever need an emotion this intense? God gives us a safe place to express all the emotions that threaten our mental, spiritual, and physical well-being. Feel free to be angry with God and in the presence of God. If you don’t have words of your own, the psalmist offers the words of this psalm. August 24, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1053 Proper 16 August 23, 2020 Psalm 62 1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be shaken. 3 How long will you assail a person, will you batter your victim, all of you, as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence? 4 Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence. They take pleasure in falsehood; they bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah 5 For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah 9 Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. 10 Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. 11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, 12 and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work. (NRSV) Sometimes it is more important to know what is beyond our ability than to know what is possible for us. I was lucky enough to have older brothers to teach me that things like jumping off the garage roof wearing a beach towel cape does not make flight possible. (I don't remember any of trying such a thing, but it makes my point.) Knowing that we can’t fly keeps us safer than knowing we can get on to the garage roof and jump off. There is a long list of God things that we are unable to do as well, and the psalmist points out some of them. We are not able to achieve salvation on our own. We can’t work hard enough or do enough to get ourselves into heaven. We can’t stand unshaken in any permanent way on our own. We can stand firm against a lot of challenges, however, eventually we will fall to the ground broken on our own. We can’t take refuge on our own, especially from adversities with eternal consequences. For all of these things we need something, someone bigger than ourselves, and bigger than the adversity. We need God. We each have an impressive list of things we can do on our own. Those around us appreciate when we do what we can to care for ourselves, as well as when we offer our talents and abilities to help others. There is also a long list of things for which we need help to accomplish. Most people are happy to help out where they are able. This list includes the things that only God can do. God acts in our lives out of steadfast love for us. There is nothing we can do to earn or deserve God’s love, we can only accept it as a gift given out of love. August 17, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1052 Proper 15 August 16, 2020 Psalm 137 1 By the rivers of Babylon—there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our harps. 3 For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! 6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. 7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall, how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!” 8 O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! 9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock! (NRSV) One of the most devastating weapons of war is humiliation. I takes several forms, including rape, dehumanizing treatment, killing children in front of their parents, and forcing the captive to sing or recite a happy verse as a reminder that they are not going to be happy for a long time. In the biblical era, it was common to take community leaders into exile, away from their communities. Most people considered their divinities to be confined to their home area. Taking people away from familiar geography also took them away from their divine support system. Exile and the other forms of humiliation heaped on one another made for demoralizing conditions. The psalmist was one of many who believed that the Lord was not confined to a particular locality. Faith practices had to be done in secret to avoid punishment for practicing a foreign religion in the home territory of the established deities. These exiles continued to worship the Lord, and to remember their homeland with hopes of returning as everyone's fortunes shifted. People would rather not sing than be forced to sing joyful songs for the entertainment of their captors and oppressors. At the same time, they pledged to remember the Lord and their homeland for as long as it took to get back there. Humiliating others through cruelty and violence is great fun for some people. It is not confined to one culture or religion. There is that leaning in people of every culture and area. One of the gifts that people of faith give to a culture is to minimize the violent tendencies of the people. It is one thing to fantasize about crushing the heads of the children of our enemies and adversaries, and quite another to carry out that kind of violence. The Lord is one who encourages gentleness and love in the face of violence, despite our desire for violent revenge on those who treated us with violence and humiliation. August 10, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1051 Proper 14 August 9, 2020 Psalm 37 1 Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, 2 for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. 4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. 6 He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday. 7 Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil. 9 For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. 10 Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there. 11 But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity. 12 The wicked plot against the righteous, and gnash their teeth at them; 13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day is coming. 14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to kill those who walk uprightly; 15 their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. 16 Better is a little that the righteous person has than the abundance of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. 18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will abide forever; 19 they are not put to shame in evil times, in the days of famine they have abundance. 20 But the wicked perish, and the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away. 21 The wicked borrow, and do not pay back, but the righteous are generous and keep giving; 22 for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off. 23 Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights in our way; 24 though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. 26 They are ever giving liberally and lending, and their children become a blessing. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; so you shall abide forever. 28 For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his faithful ones. The righteous shall be kept safe forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and live in it forever. 30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak justice. 31 The law of their God is in their hearts; their steps do not slip. 32 The wicked watch for the righteous, and seek to kill them. 33 The Lord will not abandon them to their power, or let them be condemned when they are brought to trial. 34 Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on the destruction of the wicked. 35 I have seen the wicked oppressing, and towering like a cedar of Lebanon. 36 Again I passed by, and they were no more; though I sought them, they could not be found. 37 Mark the blameless, and behold the upright, for there is posterity for the peaceable. 38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their refuge in the time of trouble. 40 The Lord helps them and rescues them; he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him. (NRSV) I have been reminded that, though we see ourselves that way, we are not always the people God watches over in Scripture. We can be counted among the wicked with equal ease. Do we ever prosper due to the work of those who report to us? Do we ever take out our anger on those who are not able to respond due to their position in the world? Have we ever done anything to squash the hopes and ambitions of those around us because they are moving up the ladder faster than we are? Have we ever used weapons of any kind, physical, emotional, or corporate to run roughshod over someone in our sphere of influence? If we can answer, ‘yes’ to any one of these questions we may be among those God counts as wicked. So, how do we keep from being counted among the wicked? The psalmist gives us advice on how to be counted as righteous. We are to give freely, and lend to others who are in need, as well as teaching our children to be generous, with no thought of being repaid. The righteous seek justice, both for ourselves and for those who are unable to achieve justice for themselves. The righteous utter wisdom and strive for justice, as well as holding the law of God in our hearts. All the rest comes from God. It seems so simple, with these few requirements, however, our tendency is to look out for our own and to protect ourselves from ‘those people’ who want what we have, even if they have no power or influence with which to take what we have. The question of the psalmist is, do you want to go after the good things the world offers, or follow and serve God, receiving the gifts God gives? We can do everything we can to get rich, enjoying the advantages of wealth and power. It is hard work that may or may not pay off at a level that will satisfy us. We can do everything we can to serve God, enjoying the company and gifts of God as a part of the people of God. John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement, gave the advice, “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can for as long as you can.” If we find ourselves in a position to have resources beyond our needs, we are to use them for the benefit of others, to the glory of God. August 3, 2020 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1050
Proper 13
August 2, 2020

Psalm 112
1 Praise the Lord! Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments.
2 Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.
4 They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.
6 For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever.
7 They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord.
8 Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
9 They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor.
10 The wicked see it and are angry; they gnash their teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.
(NRSV)
We are used to being the star of our own story, so when we step into God’s story we naturally assume the role of protagonist. Of course we delight in the commandments of the Lord. Of course we are mighty in the land, upright, wealthy and righteous. We stand firm in the ways of God and we expect to come out on top in all disagreements, arguments, and disputes. We have every intention of being the very best at following in the footsteps God has mapped out for good folks like us.

What if this is not about us? Not that we are bad people, just that we leave out some of what God lays out for righteous folk. We not only leave it out, we flat out ignore it. We are okay with bringing up our children the way we were brought up, properly. It is the parts about helping others that we could do without. The part about distributing freely and giving to the poor rankles a bit. We worked hard to get what we have and none of those lazy poor people deserve any of what we worked so hard to get. Except for that pesky part about sharing with others is part of what it means to be righteous.

It is easy to deflect this critique, to make excuses for what we have and have not done for the sake of others. And God calls us to the hard work of taking off our rose colored glasses to look at ourselves in the clear light of day. Chances are pretty good that we are not as righteous and upright as we want to be. And we are just as guilty as the people we gossip and trash talk about. If we read the Psalms as if they are teaching us, disciplining us, moving us off of our normal track we will see that God loves to lead us toward what it means to be a conscious, aware, and active child of God.

July 27, 2020
LCM

Psalm Meditation 1049
Proper 12
July 26, 2020

Psalm 12
1 Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2 They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?”
5 “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the Lord; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
6 The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among humankind.
(NRSV)

It is probably tempting in every age to believe that godly folks have disappeared from the earth. Those who are most vocal about their faith are the ones who have taken some aspect of faith, twisted it to fit their particular agenda, and announced it from the mountaintops that this is the way to live out the faith. Oh, and if anyone disagrees with their way of thinking, acting, and talking they are going to hell so there is no need to pay attention to them at all.

However, the folks who are faithful to God are working with the poor, the downtrodden and the oppressed. They have no desire to be applauded, their desire is to serve. And every age makes some progress in the care of the outcast as folks rise up to “place them in the safety for which they long“ for the glory of God. They are not making gobs of money telling people what they want to hear, they are making sacrifices and doing to hard work to make it possible for people to live in the world.

People will continue to see themselves as faithful as they splash the words of God in big, noisy, public places. They will miss that the words are taken out of context so that they lead to personal gain for themselves and some of their followers. Damage will be done to the reputation of God, but it will not last. Folks will eventually swing back to seeing the servants, whose lives are lived quietly and faithfully for the glory of God.

July 20, 2020
LCM

Psalm Meditation 1048
Proper 11
July 19, 2020

Psalm 87
1 On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. Selah
4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; Philistia too, and Tyre, with Ethiopia—“This one was born there,” they say.
5 And of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in it”; for the Most High himself will establish it.
6 The Lord records, as he registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah
7 Singers and dancers alike say, “All my springs are in you.”
(NRSV)

There are cities that people imagine as wonderful places to be born and grow up. Some people get to experience growing up in those cities for themselves. Rome, Paris, London, New York, Chicago are some of the cities that come quickly to mind for me. You have your own list of dream cities in which to be born and grow up that are wonderful and exciting places. There are people who have excellent experiences of growing up in their home town. The psalmist extols the virtues of the city of Zion, Jerusalem.

For the psalmist, the city of Zion is a great place to be born because it is the city of God. The presence and blessing of God in the city makes it an exceptional place to live. It is one of those cities that holds a place in the hearts of anyone who grew up in it. The psalmist knows that Zion is a spring that wells up in the lives of citizens in a way that nourishes their souls throughout their lives.

There are celebrated cities that give the reputation of a person born there a boost. In many cases those boosts of reputation are justified. The psalmist has a more important criteria than the place of one’s birth; the presence of God. If God is a part of one’s upbringing there is a whole different spring in one’s step and lilt to one’s voice. To be born in the presence and under the influence of God helps set folks apart in a special way.

July 13, 2020
LCM

Psalm Meditation 1047
Proper 10
July 12, 2020

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)

Before we can make any vows or promises, God is our refuge. It takes us a while to figure that out so we spend a lot of time trying to earn God’s love, trying to deserve all the gifts that God showers on us. We beat ourselves up for not being able to do all the things that seem important to earn God’s love. We have been known to judge the quality of our actions even if we have done the right things. ‘God still doesn’t love me fully because I didn’t do that one thing as well as I could have. And that other thing was not perfect, so how can God possibly love me if I can’t even be perfect?’

First and foremost, God is our refuge. It is a refuge of steadfast love. It isn’t because we have earned a place in God’s strong tower, it is because God loves us. I have an image of a child wrapping arms around a parent’s leg or waist, knowing that there is safety in this kind of closeness. To complete the image a parental hand moves down with a comforting hand on top of the child’s head. For the child, that is the safest refuge, the strongest tower ever. When we change the image to place God in the parental role imagine how safe and comforting that place is when we melt into it.

Know that God already loves you and that you can’t earn or deserve that love. Relax into God’s love and allow it to seep in to all your cracked and broken places. There is no time limit. God is not going to move away from you or get impatient that you are not doing something right or quickly enough.

July 6, 2020
LCM

Psalm Meditation 1046
Proper 9
July 5, 2020

Psalm 136
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;
4 who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 who spread out the earth on the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever;
10 who struck Egypt through their firstborn, for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever;
17 who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed famous kings, for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites, for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan, for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage, for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to his servant Israel, for his steadfast love endures forever.
23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever.
26 O give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.
(NRSV)

A litany is a call and response liturgy in which the response is always the same. As a child in worship I thought they were boring because we had to say the same thing over and over. I also thought it unfair that the leader got all the variety while we were stuck with the same old same old. In seminary, the litany I had to write for a class had a different response every time. All these years later, I realize it was not a litany, and I have a deeper appreciation for what happens in the call and response of a litany.

The litany arose in a time before the majority of worshipers was literate so a repeated response allowed more people to participate in this act of worship. Whether worship was conducted in Latin or the local language there was the one phrase to learn in order to join in. In our more literate era the litany gives us the opportunity to have a concept reinforced by repetition. One of my mentors along the way told us that anything we hear at least ten times takes on a reality it did not have before. In this particular psalm, the consistent repetition of, “for his steadfast love endures forever.” serves as instruction and reminder that God loves us, forever.

I continue to think that litanies are boring, and I am not likely to use them as an act of worship. However, I am ever grateful for the reminder that God’s love is not something that comes and goes, it is not something that God offers and withholds depending on my behavior or some whim on the part of God. In the whole history of salvation, one of the constants, whether we have acknowledged it or not, has been God’s love, for his steadfast love endures forever.

June 30, 2020
LCM

Psalm Meditation 1045
Proper 8
June 28, 2020

Psalm 36
1 Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; there is no fear of God before their eyes.
2 For they flatter themselves in their own eyes that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3 The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit; they have ceased to act wisely and do good.
4 They plot mischief while on their beds; they are set on a way that is not good; they do not reject evil.
5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
10 O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart!
11 Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers lie prostrate; they are thrust down, unable to rise.
(NRSV)

We hear what we are listening for; a familiar voice, the song of a bird, a particular bird song, the sound of engine trouble, the voice of transgression, the voice of God. The psalmist knows that there are folks whose ears are tuned to the invitation to transgression, especially when that invitation includes the words, ‘Go ahead, no one is watching.’ Some hear the invitation, ‘Go ahead, no one cares.’ When we are so invisible that no one can see us because no one cares about us, we are drawn in quickly and easily by the voice of transgression.

The best among us has heard that voice from time to time. If we are never tempted to transgress, our good behavior means little. Three of the Gospels tell of the temptation of Jesus. It is important to note that part of what makes Jesus special is that he is ‘tested as we are, yet without sin.’ (Hebrews 4:15) Transgression speaks to us in our hearts, however that voice is drowned out by the sounds we want to hear more clearly.

More important than whether we pay attention to the temptation to transgression, is the steadfast love of God. The love of God knows no limit of reach. Wherever we are, whatever we hear, whatever we do, the steadfast love of God is standing with us, reminding us that we are not alone. We are seen, we are known, we are loved. We can ignore the love of God, however we can’t move far enough away from God to be out of the reach of the steadfast love of God.

June 22, 2020
LCM

Psalm Meditation 1044
Proper 7
June 21, 2020

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)

We have projects and interests that allow time to pass and stand still at the same time. After what seems to be a few minutes we look out at the rest of the world and discover that hours have passed. We have been so intent on a particular interest that nothing has been able to distract us from what we have been doing. Eating and drinking have been ignored. We are on automatic. The only thing that has taken our attention has been the project we have focused on for the past several hours.

The psalmist is this intently focused on the presence of God. Gathered as a part of a congregation, the psalmist focuses in on works and attributes of God during this time of worship. It is possible that the time of worship has ended and the psalmist is so intent on living in the presence of God that there is no awareness of the lack of people in the room. We have the honor of receiving the goodness of the psalmist’s time in the zone with God.

A wonderful thing about having companions on our journey is that we get to share the skills and insights of those around us. Those on the journey together are able to point out vistas and insights we might have missed because our focus was elsewhere. We get to learn new things as our friends point out what we would have missed, as they teach us what they have mastered, and as we explore new skills and places together. When our journey includes being wholly, and holy, in the presence of God it is awe inspiring.

June 15, 2020
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/

Psalm Meditation 1043 Proper 6 June 14, 2020 Psalm 11 1 In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to the mountains; 2 for look, the wicked bend the bow, they have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. 3 If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” 4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind. 5 The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and his soul hates the lover of violence. 6 On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and sulfur; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. 7 For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. (NRSV) The larger the group, the more likely that one of them is a naysayer. This is the one whose first inclination is to go toward the negative interpretation of events. The psalmist is commenting on the potential influence of one or more of the negative folks as the group faces an adversary. This negative course has the worst case scenario already worked out in this situation. ‘It is time to run away while we still can. The bad folks have no concern about us, they are shooting in the dark to destroy whatever gets hit by arrows and we have no recourse but to save ourselves.’ The psalmist is happy to quote the negative voice as long as their words are surrounded by other words of trust in God. The psalmist knows that no matter what is going on in the world, God is with us, shielding us from the worst. Because we are on the side of God we can count on the activity of God around us. God knows the hearts of each one of us and will treat us according to our activity, as well as our relationship to God. Those out to get us will be the eventual recipients of a shower of fire and sulfur/brimstone. If you don’t know who speaks the word of negativity in your group you may be the naysayer of you may be such a positive influence that you never hear the negative even if it is spoken directly to you. Either way, the psalmist encourages us to look to God in our best, our worst, and all the in between parts of our lives. God wants us to desire the presence of God in our lives and is gratified when we are open the that presence in all the times and places of our lives. God knows our hearts and loves us. When we willingly return that love we behold the face of God. June 8, 2020 LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/

Psalm Meditation 1042
Trinity Sunday
June 7, 2020

Psalm 86
1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God;
3 be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all day long.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication.
7 In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me.
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.
9 All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
10 For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
14 O God, the insolent rise up against me; a band of ruffians seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant; save the child of your serving girl.
17 Show me a sign of your favor, so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame, because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
(NRSV)

We have a picture frame in our kitchen with the unfinished sentence, “I love you because…” in the top part of the frame. We also have an erasable marker that allows us to finish the sentence. It is a place to compliment each other in a way that stands out. Since it is not a compliment that is heard once, it stands out as an enduring statement that can be consulted at any time, and is especially helpful when nursing a poor and needy heart.

While this psalm can be seen as an exercise in flattery, buttering up God in order to receive the help the psalmist desires, it is better seen as looking for the good in the midst of a painful situation. Using the psalm as a way to remind ourselves that the world is not as bleak as we currently see it, is a helpful contrast to our surroundings. The psalmist is doing the work of remembering what it is about God that makes it possible to turn to God in times of need. Then the psalmist commits it to writing as a constant reminder of who God is among us.

In a cynical mindset this psalm is an exercise in flattery, a way to convince God to do good things for us. In a faith-filled mindset, we see the psalmist listing reasons that God is dependable in every time. In this case, God is the most dependable when we are most in need. God does not need to be flattered, because God loves us, treasures us, forgives us, no matter what. We need to be reminded that God is with us at our best and at our worst.

June 1, 2020
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/

Psalm Meditation 1041
Pentecost
May 31, 2020

Psalm 60
1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; now restore us!
2 You have caused the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering.
3 You have made your people suffer hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us reel.
4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you, to rally to it out of bowshot. Selah
5 Give victory with your right hand, and answer us, so that those whom you love may be rescued.
6 God has promised in his sanctuary: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I hurl my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
11 O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless.
12 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.
(NRSV)

When things are not going our way, it is tempting to wander into despair; to wander off into negative thoughts and allow them to consume us. The psalmist is voicing this kind of despair. Everything is turning sour and we are caught in the middle of it. Not only is our army being defeated, we have to deal with earthquakes too. All the good things we expect from God are going the opposite way.

And then the psalmist remembers that it is not always this bad. God continues to offer us protection and safety even as we are being overrun by enemies and disasters. God has made promises to us that are being honored on a daily basis. God treats us well and all those ‘others’ are treated with serious disrespect. Things are not going well right now, however, God is with us and things will turn around shortly.

We have a choice in our lives; we can dwell on the negative, harping to God about all the things that are wrong in our lives and relationships, or we can dwell on the positive, thanking God for all the good things going on in our lives and relationships. It takes time and effort on our part to change our point of view and attitude. We will fall back into old patterns and have to remember what we are doing. And God will continue to be a refuge and strength.

May 25, 2020
LCM

Psalm Meditation 1040
Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 24, 2020

Psalm 135
1 Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord; give praise, O servants of the Lord,
2 you that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for he is gracious.
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession.
5 For I know that the Lord is great; our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
7 He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
8 He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both human beings and animals;
9 he sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations and killed mighty kings—
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan—
12 and gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to his people Israel.
13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever, your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people, and have compassion on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see;
17 they have ears, but they do not hear, and there is no breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them and all who trust them shall become like them.
19 O house of Israel, bless the Lord! O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord! You that fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion, he who resides in Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
(NRSV)

Sometimes you want to brag on those who make your life good, even possible. The psalmist chooses to brag on YHWH as the one who chose the people and nation of Israel to receive good things. With that brief introduction, the psalmist launches into praise for a variety of the good things YHWH does in the world. God makes clouds and lightning, wind and rain. In addition to the natural phenomena, God provides a place for this chosen people in a decisive way. And, our God is better than yours, because ours is alive and not lifeless silver and gold like the divinities of those other people.

The only paternal grandmother I knew was my dad’s stepmother. Dad said that sometimes she, Pearl, would brag on my dad and his brothers as well raised children, acknowledging the hard work of their parents. Other times she would claim the boys as her own. Dad would scold her for trying to have it both ways. She could not say what wonderful men these boys had turned out to be and then claim them as if she had helped them become these wonderful people. According to my dad, we can only brag on those over whom we had no influence. That seems a bit unrealistic, so let me add that we can brag on those who have surpassed any training and influence we may have contributed.

Another way to brag is by comparison. ‘My dad can beat up your dad; my mom can beat up your dad.’ Funny, but not necessary. Just because we brag like that as children, doesn’t mean it serves us well as we mature. In this season there are a lot of items that say my mom or my dad is the best. My sense is that two people can be wearing ‘World’s Best Mom’ shirts that are both accurate from the perception of the person who gave the present. Rather than bragging that my divinity can beat up your divinity we do better to say that YHWH is the God I need in my life. “Praise the Lord!”

May 18, 2020
LCM