Psalm Meditation 1150 ¶Proper 9 ¶July 3, 2022 ¶Psalm 7 1 O LORD my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me, 2 or like a lion they will tear me apart; they will drag me away, with no one to rescue. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, 4 if I have repaid my ally with harm or plundered my foe without cause, 5 then let the enemy pursue and overtake me, trample my life to the ground, and lay my soul in the dust. Selah 6 Rise up, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake, O my God; you have appointed a judgment. 7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you, and over it take your seat on high. 8 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. 9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God. 10 God is my shield, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a righteous judge and a God who has indignation every day. 12 If one does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and strung his bow; 13 he has prepared his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. 14 See how they conceive evil and are pregnant with mischief and bring forth lies. 15 They make a pit, digging it out, and fall into the hole that they have made. 16 Their mischief returns upon their own heads, and on their own heads their violence descends. 17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness and sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High. (NRSV) ¶The first image that came to me is of someone curled into a fetal position, cowering in a dark corner, waiting for someone to come and scoop them up in a protective embrace. It takes a powerful person to pull this off. Many of us feel that we are too big for anyone to be able to scoop us up and protect us. This may be why it is such a helpful image of the love and power of God in our lives. The love seeks us out, looking into every dark and scary place until we are found. The power lifts us up and carries us to safety as if we were no burden at all. ¶In times like these, we want it known that if we have ever made anyone feel as small as we do, we are very sorry and will accept any punishment that fits our actions. We never want anyone to feel badly because of anything we have said or done to make them feel that way. As we are willing to accept the punishment of God, we want all who have made us suffer, to bear the punishment they deserve for the harm they have done to us. May they be caught in the webs and traps they have laid out for others ¶Of course, God is not one to wreak vengeance on anyone. The love of God is not reserved for those who love God in return, who repent with remorse and tears. The love of God comes to each of us, no matter what. We may not be open to or willing to receive God’s love, however, God loves us just the same. So we can wish all the devastation and destruction we can ever imagine onto our enemies at the hand of God, that does not mean it will happen. As we look to God for answers to our prayers and wishes for the destruction of our enemies, God is just as likely to point us in ways that allow us to see them as brothers and sisters, loved and lovable. ¶June 27, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1149 ¶Proper 8 ¶June 26, 2022 ¶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) ¶Steadfast love is one of those words/phrases that has become a ‘church’ word, something we use only in religious contexts. The current word that means about the same thing is unconditional love. It means that there is nothing we can do to earn this kind of love, and there is nothing we can do to make someone stop loving us. This kind of love is a gift. It is the kind of love to which we all aspire in our most deeply held relationships. It is more easily said than done. ¶God loves us. God loves you. God loves me. There are folks who keep themselves from being open to God’s love in a variety of ways, however that does nothing to keep God’s love from surrounding us. Those who are open to God’s love are the ones best able to receive it and pass it on to others. God points us in the direction of righteousness and justice for all people. Striving for righteousness and justice is how we live out the love that God gives to us, for all to share. ¶With all that God is and does, from being the creative force in the world to frustrating the plans of those whose greed and selfishness opposes the divine plan, God’s love for us stands firm. Empire, systems that govern by violence, fear, and oppression, stand only for a moment. The realm of God, based in righteousness, justice, and steadfast love, stands forever. “Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” ¶June 20, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1148 ¶Proper 7 ¶June 19, 2022 ¶Psalm 26 1 Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. 2 Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and mind. 3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you. 4 I do not sit with the worthless, nor do I consort with hypocrites; 5 I hate the company of evildoers and will not sit with the wicked. 6 I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O LORD, 7 singing aloud a song of thanksgiving and telling all your wondrous deeds. 8 O LORD, I love the house in which you dwell and the place where your glory abides. 9 Do not sweep me away with sinners nor my life with the bloodthirsty, 10 those in whose hands are evil devices and whose right hands are full of bribes. 11 But as for me, I walk in my integrity; redeem me and be gracious to me. 12 My foot stands on level ground; in the great congregation I will bless the LORD. (NRSV) ¶The good part about avoiding worthless, hypocritical, wicked evildoers is that we are unlikely to be influenced by them. We can continue in our innocence and purity to the end of our days. We live as those who are already in the presence of God, waiting for the day we are presented with our robes and wings, with a pass key into the pearly gates. We get to keep our clothes and our hands clean, since we refuse contact with anything that might leave a stain on us. ¶The difficult part of sitting with worthless, hypocritical, wicked evildoers is that those prone to judgment will come to number us among the folks in these categories. We will be judged as ‘less than’ by all the folks who live the ivory tower existence of innocence and purity. Our hands are dirty, our clothes are stained and disheveled, and we are more readily tempted to take the easy way, knowing that it leads where no one really wants to go. ¶Interestingly, God demonstrates in word and action a willingness to live and work among those we can so easily look down on. We hear and see that the place for God’s people is in and among those most in need of rescue from the easy way out. We can offer our ‘thoughts and prayers’ to those in need, however we are our best selves when we also offer our hearts and hands to change the systems that keep folks in a position of need. There is a place for purity and innocence. There is an important place for dirty hands, doing the work of God among those most in need of God. ¶June 13, 2022 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1147 ¶Trinity Sunday ¶June 12, 2022 ¶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 one’s own 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) ¶I have learned that the things that annoy and anger us the most in others are the things that we ourselves do without owning the action. We can cluck our tongues at those who do the things on our list, and never notice that we may have just done that very thing. These are among “one’s own errors,” from which the psalmist asks to be clear. Is it even possible to be cleared of all those sins we commit without noticing them in ourselves? ¶The psalmist includes a list of ways to keep ourselves as pure as possible in the presence of God. They are various ways of exhorting us to learn and live the laws, decrees, precepts, commandments, fear, and ordinances of God. Each of these are synonyms for the ways God wants us to live as people and children of God. As we learn and, more importantly, incorporate God’s instruction into our daily lives, we become our best selves in the world. ¶Rather than spending our energy scolding and clucking our tongues at those around us, as they violate the teachings of God, we do well to look to our selves. If we must concentrate on others, what is it about their actions that annoys us, how am I guilty of the same thing, and what shall I do instead? “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” ¶June 8, 2022 ¶LCM