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/