Psalm Meditation 1028
First Sunday in Lent
March 1, 2020
Psalm 133
1 How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore.
(NRSV)
The way we grow up is taken as the norm, the way everyone grows up. This is not the case. There are families who get along, have great trust and intimacy, and stay close through their entire lives. There are families who never mesh, who can’t wait to get away from each other, and keep their distance from the earliest possible moment. There are the families that fall in the broad spectrum of normal. And there are dysfunctional families.
Each family type contributes to the community in some way, some positively and others negatively. The psalmist praises the families that get along. A family that gets along is set apart in the same way Aaron, the first High Priest, was set apart for service to God. The oil was used to anoint folks who were set apart to serve in particular ways. The oil used was expensive and aromatic, so the temptation was to use it sparingly. To have the oil running from the top of the head to the collar of the robe was an indication of extravagance on the part of the one doing the anointing.
Family unity fills a community with abundance. The abundance may not be the kind that can be held in one’s hands, however it makes a positive difference in all those who come in contact with it. Our birth family makes a difference in our lives, however it does not make the final determination of who we are. We can strive to cultivate a spirit of abundance, generosity, and extravagance in all we are and do.
February 24, 2020
LCM
Monday, February 24, 2020
Sunday, February 16, 2020
Psalm Meditation 1027
Transfiguration
February 23, 2020
Psalm 33
1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright.
2 Praise the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.
13 The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind.
14 From where he sits enthroned he watches all the inhabitants of the earth—
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all, and observes all their deeds.
16 A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save.
18 Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield.
21 Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
(NRSV)
We like to think that we are on God’s good list, loved and cared for, protected and kept from the evil things that life has to offer. And part of that is true and right. God loves us and cares for us. It is God’s intention that we stay away from evil. The world that God created and presents to us is a good place with a lot of potential for greater good. But wait, God gave us the ability to make choices so we would not be boring puppets always and only dancing to the tune of God’s fiddle. God is ever hopeful that we will choose to be in the presence of God, but what good is that if we have no choice in the matter?
So, after all the verses celebrating the activity of God in the world, all the wonderful things that God has made and provided for us, the psalmist reminds us that we get to choose whether or not we give God the credit for all these great things. As we choose to follow the paths in which God leads, we experience God as a constant source of abundance and wonder. If we decide to follow the path of our own making we discover that it is nowhere near as much fun as we thought it was going to be. Like a child running away from home, we discover that it is harder than we thought to be on our own. Some of us return home while others slog along making their way on their own power.
The good thing in either choice is that God continues to love and care for us not matter what choices we make. Those who stand near to God are aware of God’s watching while others experience God’s care without being able to name it as such. The steadfast love of God is upon us, know it or not, like it or not. We can accept the love of God or reject it, however we can’t make it go away; only God can do that. “[God] loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”
February 16, 2020
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Transfiguration
February 23, 2020
Psalm 33
1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright.
2 Praise the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.
13 The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind.
14 From where he sits enthroned he watches all the inhabitants of the earth—
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all, and observes all their deeds.
16 A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save.
18 Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield.
21 Our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
(NRSV)
We like to think that we are on God’s good list, loved and cared for, protected and kept from the evil things that life has to offer. And part of that is true and right. God loves us and cares for us. It is God’s intention that we stay away from evil. The world that God created and presents to us is a good place with a lot of potential for greater good. But wait, God gave us the ability to make choices so we would not be boring puppets always and only dancing to the tune of God’s fiddle. God is ever hopeful that we will choose to be in the presence of God, but what good is that if we have no choice in the matter?
So, after all the verses celebrating the activity of God in the world, all the wonderful things that God has made and provided for us, the psalmist reminds us that we get to choose whether or not we give God the credit for all these great things. As we choose to follow the paths in which God leads, we experience God as a constant source of abundance and wonder. If we decide to follow the path of our own making we discover that it is nowhere near as much fun as we thought it was going to be. Like a child running away from home, we discover that it is harder than we thought to be on our own. Some of us return home while others slog along making their way on their own power.
The good thing in either choice is that God continues to love and care for us not matter what choices we make. Those who stand near to God are aware of God’s watching while others experience God’s care without being able to name it as such. The steadfast love of God is upon us, know it or not, like it or not. We can accept the love of God or reject it, however we can’t make it go away; only God can do that. “[God] loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”
February 16, 2020
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Monday, February 10, 2020
Psalm Meditation 1026
Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
February 16, 2020
Psalm 108
1 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul!
2 Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.
3 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
4 For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.
6 Give victory with your right hand, and answer me, so that those whom you love may be rescued.
7 God has promised in his sanctuary: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I hurl my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
10 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
12 O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless.
13 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.
(NRSV)
It can be easier to be hopeful in public that it is when we are alone. In a group we are buoyed up by the enthusiasm of the crowd, by the confidence that comes from being together. One person’s enthusiasm becomes contagious and we all get caught up in the anticipation of good things that are on the way. Good things from the past spark our hopes for the present and future and in that crowd and that moment we know that we can do anything together, because God is with us.
Once the crowd has disbursed our doubts creep in, the questions that were drowned out by the cheers of the crowd can be heard in the quiet of our aloneness. We doubt ourselves, we doubt God, we question the loyalty of all those people with whom we shared chants of victory mere moments ago. Every doubt and insecurity we have ever had creeps in to let us know that our confidence is ill founded. The dread of abandonment overwhelms us. We can’t even feel the presence of God.
Both of these are real and have a spark of truth in them. It is helpful to have the doubts and questions as those help us answer the fears and doubts of those around us. It is helpful to have faith in God and in the people around us. One side of this conflict is going to win out over the other. If we trust our fears and doubts we can talk ourselves out of any victory. On one hand our fears and doubts can convince us that God is not willing or able to keep promises, even if we could have listed kept promises in a recent clear moment. On the other hand we can see God at work in our lives and realize that with God in our hearts there is no such thing as defeat. We will be victorious in the worldly sense, knowing that God is with us, or we will be defeated by most estimations, but we will be in the presence of God. We can trust our fears, but we get more out of life when we trust our faith.
February 10, 2020
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
February 16, 2020
Psalm 108
1 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul!
2 Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.
3 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
4 For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.
6 Give victory with your right hand, and answer me, so that those whom you love may be rescued.
7 God has promised in his sanctuary: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I hurl my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
10 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
12 O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless.
13 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.
(NRSV)
It can be easier to be hopeful in public that it is when we are alone. In a group we are buoyed up by the enthusiasm of the crowd, by the confidence that comes from being together. One person’s enthusiasm becomes contagious and we all get caught up in the anticipation of good things that are on the way. Good things from the past spark our hopes for the present and future and in that crowd and that moment we know that we can do anything together, because God is with us.
Once the crowd has disbursed our doubts creep in, the questions that were drowned out by the cheers of the crowd can be heard in the quiet of our aloneness. We doubt ourselves, we doubt God, we question the loyalty of all those people with whom we shared chants of victory mere moments ago. Every doubt and insecurity we have ever had creeps in to let us know that our confidence is ill founded. The dread of abandonment overwhelms us. We can’t even feel the presence of God.
Both of these are real and have a spark of truth in them. It is helpful to have the doubts and questions as those help us answer the fears and doubts of those around us. It is helpful to have faith in God and in the people around us. One side of this conflict is going to win out over the other. If we trust our fears and doubts we can talk ourselves out of any victory. On one hand our fears and doubts can convince us that God is not willing or able to keep promises, even if we could have listed kept promises in a recent clear moment. On the other hand we can see God at work in our lives and realize that with God in our hearts there is no such thing as defeat. We will be victorious in the worldly sense, knowing that God is with us, or we will be defeated by most estimations, but we will be in the presence of God. We can trust our fears, but we get more out of life when we trust our faith.
February 10, 2020
LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net
http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/
Monday, February 3, 2020
Psalm Meditation 1025
Fifth Sunday of Epiphany
February 9, 2020
Psalm 8
1 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
(NRSV)
Sometimes we forget how wonderful God is and we need a psalmist or other poet to remind us how majestic God is. Since humans are adaptable we get used to the conditions around us and we see them as normal. When we are exposed to wealth we begin to view our condition as normal and wonder why all these other people don’t live in the same style we live. When we are exposed to God we come to see God’s presence as normal and get so used to God being around we forget how majestic and wonderful God is.
A good thing about having new people in a group is their ability to see what we have gotten used to in our area. Whether it is something that has faded so slowly that we have gotten used to the decay or something/someone who has retained the glory and majesty that drew us in at first we need to be reminded from time to time.
A fresh set of eyes helps us see the reality around us. In the case of God and the psalmists we are reminded of the extremes of God’s presence. God is both distant and judgmental, as well as glorious and majestic. We do well to remember that when we get too chummy. God is also a very present help in time of need. We need to remember that when we allow ourselves to be intimidated by the glory and majesty of God.
February 3, 2020
LCM
Fifth Sunday of Epiphany
February 9, 2020
Psalm 8
1 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
(NRSV)
Sometimes we forget how wonderful God is and we need a psalmist or other poet to remind us how majestic God is. Since humans are adaptable we get used to the conditions around us and we see them as normal. When we are exposed to wealth we begin to view our condition as normal and wonder why all these other people don’t live in the same style we live. When we are exposed to God we come to see God’s presence as normal and get so used to God being around we forget how majestic and wonderful God is.
A good thing about having new people in a group is their ability to see what we have gotten used to in our area. Whether it is something that has faded so slowly that we have gotten used to the decay or something/someone who has retained the glory and majesty that drew us in at first we need to be reminded from time to time.
A fresh set of eyes helps us see the reality around us. In the case of God and the psalmists we are reminded of the extremes of God’s presence. God is both distant and judgmental, as well as glorious and majestic. We do well to remember that when we get too chummy. God is also a very present help in time of need. We need to remember that when we allow ourselves to be intimidated by the glory and majesty of God.
February 3, 2020
LCM
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