Psalm Meditation 1094 Second Sunday of Ordinary Time June 6, 2021 Psalm 144 1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; 2 my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under me. 3 O Lord, what are human beings that you regard them, or mortals that you think of them? 4 They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow. 5 Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke. 6 Make the lightning flash and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them. 7 Stretch out your hand from on high; set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hand of aliens, 8 whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false. 9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, 10 the one who gives victory to kings, who rescues his servant David. 11 Rescue me from the cruel sword, and deliver me from the hand of aliens, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false. 12 May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace. 13 May our barns be filled, with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields, 14 and may our cattle be heavy with young. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets. 15 Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the Lord. (NRSV) Most of us don’t face our enemies in armed combat in physical form since most of our enemies are the doubts and concerns that interfere with our ability to function on a daily basis. We may have gobs of skills and talents, or just enough to get by. At the same time we are assailed by doubts that keep us from doing the work of which we are capable. The doubts likely come from within us, even if we received them from a figure we loved and trusted at some point in our lives. Having internalized the doubts, we allow our doubts to overpower our awareness of our skills. The psalmist asks God for relief from the enemies who are in full attack mode against our author. Whether physical, spiritual, or psychological, the enemies aim is to destroy us in some form or another. No matter how the destruction comes, it is aided by lies and offers of help that will turn to dust in our hands. God is the ones who speaks the truth and whose offered hand is firm and supportive in the face of any calamity. God serves as giver of our skills and talents as well as our cheerleader to use our gifts to the best of our ability. When we feel as if we are drowning in doubt and questions, God is with us to give us what we need to face our doubts. It could be as simple as letting us walk away to regroup for a moment or the willingness to trust ourselves and give our all to the project, calamity, or trial at hand. “Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the Lord.” May 31, 2021 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1093 Trinity Sunday May 30, 2021 Psalm 44 1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our ancestors have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old: 2 you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free; 3 for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm give them victory; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, for you delighted in them. 4 You are my King and my God; you command victories for Jacob. 5 Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down our assailants. 6 For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. 7 But you have saved us from our foes, and have put to confusion those who hate us. 8 In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah 9 Yet you have rejected us and abased us, and have not gone out with our armies. 10 You made us turn back from the foe, and our enemies have gotten spoil. 11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter, and have scattered us among the nations. 12 You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them. 13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those around us. 14 You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. 15 All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face 16 at the words of the taunters and revilers, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger. 17 All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten you, or been false to your covenant. 18 Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way, 19 yet you have broken us in the haunt of jackals, and covered us with deep darkness. 20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god, 21 would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart. 22 Because of you we are being killed all day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not cast us off forever! 24 Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? 25 For we sink down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. 26 Rise up, come to our help. Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love. (NRSV) When things are going well, we have to remind ourselves that God has a lot to do with our success, having given us our skills and abilities to use and refine. The psalmist goes so far as to say that our success is due to the work of God for us. As long as God is fighting for us we don’t need to have skills and abilities of our own because God is the one doing all the work. It is no use to trust our weapons if we do not place our primary loyalty in God. The psalmist raises a lament due to the military losses the people have suffered. We must have done something to deserve being chased off of the battlefield by superior forces on the other side. The psalmist does not know of any way that our people have been unfaithful, so this loss must be the fault of God rather than us. Since absolute rulers of the day were inconsistent in their rules and enforcement this is the only example people had for divine action. God is not as wishy washy as the psalmist wants to believe. At the same time, God is not the direct cause of everything that happens to us. God has given each of us, friend and foe alike, the ability to make our own choices and to live with the consequences of our actions. As we get to live with the consequences of our choices, as do those around us, we live with the consequences of actions by those around us through no fault of our own. May 24, 2021 LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/

Psalm Meditation 1092 Pentecost May 23, 2021 Psalm 119:129-144 129 Your decrees are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. 130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. 131 With open mouth I pant, because I long for your commandments. 132 Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your custom toward those who love your name. 133 Keep my steps steady according to your promise, and never let iniquity have dominion over me. 134 Redeem me from human oppression, that I may keep your precepts. 135 Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes. 136 My eyes shed streams of tears because your law is not kept. 137 You are righteous, O Lord, and your judgments are right. 138 You have appointed your decrees in righteousness and in all faithfulness. 139 My zeal consumes me because my foes forget your words. 140 Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it. 141 I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts. 142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is the truth. 143 Trouble and anguish have come upon me, but your commandments are my delight. 144 Your decrees are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live. (NRSV) Write each letter of the alphabet eight times down a column. Using those letters as a guide, write a celebration of the law of God for each letter you have written. If you feel especially creative, write it as a poem. This is the outline of Psalm 119. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet which means there are 176 verses of the psalm. With the 26 letters of the English alphabet there would be 208 verses. Some groupings would be more difficult than others. The important part is celebrating God’s law. Many of us think that the law is for everyone else and that it is more a suggestion for us. We have extenuating circumstances that require us to push past any law from time to time in order to meet our need of the moment. Celebrating the law of God is a good exercise. It reminds us that law is not oppressive. At its best, as well as our best, the law of God is permission giving. ‘Here is the outside limit, other than that you are free to do what seems good to you.’ “Be on your best behavior; be home by midnight.” As long as we follow these simple rules we are free to have an enjoyable evening. If we find a way to justify skirting one of the rules there will be consequences. The consequence may be as simple as losing a privilege or as devastating as contributing to a lasting injury for ourselves or another. God is not an ogre, making rules for the sake of having rules. God loves us and wants us to be safe, to keep others safe, and to be able to enjoy our life together. “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” May 17, 2021 LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/

Psalm Meditation 1091 Seventh Sunday of Easter May 16, 2021 Psalm 19 1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. 7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer (NRSV) When we think of laws, there are a couple of directions our thoughts wander. Laws are present to protect us from the kinds of people who have no respect for others and their property. Laws are to protect us from people who don’t follow rules. Another way we look at laws is the way they intrude on our lives in inconvenient ways. Things like speed limits and no parking signs are fine when we are following the laws, however, when we are in a hurry speed limits are for others, no parking signs are in order to reserve a spot for those brave enough to park there anyway. We have a love/hate relationship with laws and rules. The psalmist tells us that laws, especially the laws of God, are a source of pleasure for those who follow them. Our own tendency is to resist laws and rules that are phrased in the negative. In the case of God’s laws the negatives are there as boundaries. ‘Here is a limit it is not safe to pass.’ There is always someone who steps across the line just to make sure, who touches where it says ‘wet paint’ just to see if it has been there longer than necessary. ‘Since God and I are such good buddies, I am certainly exempt from this law and its consequences.’ Honestly, it is more fulfilling to stay in bounds in order to enjoy a relationship with God. We can probably name the laws and rules that other people break more easily than we can name those we break ourselves. When we break a rule, we can hear the justification for it ringing in our head or heart. Rather than zeroing in on the broken rule, we emphasize the justification. We don’t know why others break the rules, only that they do, so we can afford to be more harsh with them on their ‘crime.’ The psalmist reminds us that we have our hidden faults for which we can be forgiven, especially if we ask. One of those hidden faults is our double standard of excusing our own faults while hoping others get caught and punished for their own. To help keep us from the double standard the psalmist ends with the familiar phrase, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” May 10, 2021 LCM

Psalm Meditation 1090 Sixth Sunday of Easter May 9, 2021 Psalm 94 1 O Lord, you God of vengeance, you God of vengeance, shine forth! 2 Rise up, O judge of the earth; give to the proud what they deserve! 3 O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? 4 They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. 5 They crush your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. 6 They kill the widow and the stranger, they murder the orphan, 7 and they say, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.” 8 Understand, O dullest of the people; fools, when will you be wise? 9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? 10 He who disciplines the nations, he who teaches knowledge to humankind, does he not chastise? 11 The Lord knows our thoughts, that they are but an empty breath. 12 Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law, 13 giving them respite from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked. 14 For the Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; 15 for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. 16 Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers? 17 If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. 18 When I thought, “My foot is slipping,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. 19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. 20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who contrive mischief by statute? 21 They band together against the life of the righteous, and condemn the innocent to death. 22 But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge. 23 He will repay them for their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the Lord our God will wipe them out. (NRSV) We are a lot quicker to call on God to give ‘those’ people what they deserve than we are to ask that God give us what we deserve. Even though ‘those’ people probably do deserve all the bad things we are quick to wish on them, we do well to be aware that we are just as likely to deserve those bad things as well. We know that our intentions were good even if things didn’t turn out the way we meant for them to. We are willing to guess that their intentions were evil, since we are the ones who got hurt when their actions turned out badly. So, intention is the best way to judge our actions and results are the only way we have to judge the actions of any of ‘those’ people. Even when it turns out the same way for us and ‘them’ we know that we can be forgiven and they need to be wiped out by God’s wrath, because we did not mean to hurt people. If we do find out that ‘they’ didn’t mean to hurt anyone they still need to pay for their actions because it was us who received the ill effects of their poorly thought out plans. We also have the advantage of mental gymnastics that make our hurt real because we have feelings while they don’t have feelings because they are a class of sub-human creatures in human form. Before we call on God to seek vengeance on the people who hurt us, we do well to search our lives and motives to see if we have done any damage to them at this or another time. We may have been in the way of their unfocused anger, we may be the victim of their lack of care, they may be paying us back for something we did to them years ago, we may both bear some guilt and responsibility for an upward spiral of vindictiveness. Before we call down the wrath of God on those who are guilty, we do well to make sure that we are not partly to blame. May 3, 2021 LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/