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