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