Psalm Meditation 1337 ¶Fourth Sunday After Epiphany ¶February 1, 2026 ¶Psalm 48 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2048&version=NRSVUE ¶Many of us have a place that, to us, is more sacred and holy than it is to most people. For some it is a Disney park, a camp ground that is full of memories, a family heritage site, a place that holds some personal significance of life changing import, for others it is a person or group that feels like home no matter where they may be. For the psalmist, that place is Mount Zion. God has been there through thick and thin, victory and defeat. In this instance, the presence of God has made a positive difference, as adversaries gathered, saw the glory of the city and went their separate ways. ¶Once the groups of adversaries scatter, the people gather in the temple to “ponder your steadfast love, O God“ They know they have been delivered by the strength of the hand of God, visible in the strength and beauty of the city. The people may have built the city, however it is God who blessed the place and the work that went in to it. The psalmist does not take the presence of God for granted, celebrating it in all the parts of the city, especially in the gathering of the people in the temple, a beacon of and memorial to, the presence of God. ¶While we may not hold our cities and towns in the same reverence as the psalmist, we can still be aware that the presence of God is very much a part of anywhere and everywhere we may find ourselves. That awareness can bring us to the same sense of gratitude with which the psalmist begins, “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God.” ¶January 26, 2026 ¶LCM