Psalm Meditation 1320 ¶Proper 22 ¶October 5, 2025 ¶Psalm 40 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm40&version=NRSVUE ¶No matter what is going on, what worries, troubles, scares, or overjoys us, God is with us to offer us presence and help. God may not come in the way we want or expect, however, God is with us in each of our ups and downs. Here the psalmist is asking for release from those who would offer hurt instead of help, shame instead of honor, indifference instead of love. God is with us to stem the tide of trouble from without or within. God does not make our troubles go away, God helps us to face them with faith and love. ¶One of the ways adversaries attempt to destroy us, is by robbing us of joy. They do all they can to suck the fun out of everything, not finding humor in anything but our calamities, discouraging singing and dancing as pointless and stupid. When there is no fun, there is no energy to move in any direction. We can be easily squashed and squelched when we have no avenue for fun. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons that protest songs are so effective is that they give us an excuse to sing out our fear and frustration with those who would hold us down. ¶If we ask children if they can sing, dance, draw, paint, play an instrument, they will respond with enthusiasm that they can do all of those things. Through the years, adults put standards and criteria to those activities and if we can’t do them perfectly we begin to believe we can’t do them. God has a way of giving us songs to sing, dances to dance, art to draw and paint, instruments to play whether they are dedicated or improvised instruments to play in public or for our own amusement. God puts a song in our hearts which leaks out through our voices to remind us we are held in the steadfast love of God. ¶September 29, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1186 ¶Third Sunday in Lent ¶March 12, 2023 ¶Psalm 40 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+40&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶There are people who make a lifelong impression on us because they were there for us at a critical time in our lives. It may be someone we know, an acquaintance, or a total stranger who reaches out with what we need at the time. We look for ways to pay them back only to realize it is a debt that can never be repaid. The closest we can come to repaying the debt is to pass on acts of kindness to others in similar situations. We may find ourselves more willing to offer a listening ear, a helping hand, or a financial help to the best of our ability. ¶The psalmist has a need that God is willing and able to meet. God offers a helping hand which leads to a change in attitude. As a part of the change of attitude and its expression a number of people find their lives changed for the better. There is something uplifting about seeing a friend released from a burden of any kind. As the psalmist tells the story of God’s redeeming work others open themselves to the changes God works in their lives as well. In many cases it is not that God suddenly acts it is that folks are open to seeing that it is God who has been acting in their lives for quite some time. ¶God rarely works in flashes of light and puffs of smoke as if by magic. The ways of God are subtle as God uses us to meet the needs of those around us. It may have been an actual person who pulled us out of the desolate pit, however, it is God at work through that person who gave us a new sense of hope and a new lease on life. God’s touch of steadfast love on a person’s heart can set off an avalanche of random acts of kindness, consideration, and compassion. ¶March 6, 2023 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1069 Third Sunday of Advent December 13, 2020 Psalm 40 1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. 4 Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods. 5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted. 6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 7 Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” 9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. 10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. 11 Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever. 12 For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me. 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me. 14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt. 15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” 16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” 17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God. (NRSV) Music makes a difference in our lives. In the midst of grief and trauma we may lose the ability to be touched and moved by music, and we may not be able to hear the songs that rise up within us. We can still sing, and play any instruments with the same skill we had prior to our life changing event but we can’t feel the music stir our hearts and souls to the heights and depths of glory in the same way we could before. When the psalmist writes, “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” it strikes a chord with those of us who have heard and felt the newness God offers. As we grieve, a space is hollowed out within us that draws us down to a desolate pit that seems as if it will hold us down forever. At some point God reaches in and offers to pull us “up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.” As a part of pulling us out of the depths God re-invigorates the gift of music within us. When we get the music back we may feel it more deeply as the well of grief allows us a new depth of passion and emotion in our song. Some people never get beyond their grief. They hold on to it as if it is the only connection left to the way life used to be. They rehearse it and renew it on a regular basis. They refuse to look up to see the hand of God offering to pull them out of the pit. Others see God at work in their lives and take God’s hand when it is offered to them. The pit remains in both cases. For some it is a stifling enclosure that holds them tightly for the rest of their lives. For others it becomes a place that adds depth to their lives and allows them a new and deeper well of understanding of themselves and others. December 7, 2020 LCM lcrsmanifold@att.net http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/

Psalm Meditation 946
Proper 13
August 5, 2018

Psalm 40
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
4 Happy are those who make the LORD their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods.
5 You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.
6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
11 Do not, O LORD, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.
12 For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me.
14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt.
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.
(NRSV)

In my first year of ministry I was told it didn’t sound like I believed what I was preaching. I had to admit, to myself at least, that I was telling folks what I thought they wanted to hear. It was a very helpful critique that has influenced my preaching ever since. I was reminded of the incident when the psalmist says, “I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.” One of the blessings of preaching is having the privilege of telling people about the deliverance God offers. Pastors have the honor and obligation to remind folks that God is with us all the time.

Some people want to hear that God is vengeful and will lash out at us for the smallest of infractions. At the very least we want to hear that God is out to get all of ‘them.’ When what we want to know is that God can dish out punishment with what appears to us to be great glee a word of grace and deliverance can be jarring. We want to know that shame, confusion, and dishonor await those who stand against us. And yet, God offers deliverance and salvation.

As in the case with the one who criticized my early preaching, we can be delivered by those who stand against us. Sometimes, our enemies, adversaries, and opponents are the ones who remind us of the deliverance and salvation that God offers to “all who seek you rejoice and [are] glad in you...” Whether the intent is to move us closer to God or to destroy us, those who stand against us can be the ones who remind us, who demonstrate to us, the presence and deliverance of God in our lives.

July 31, 2018
LCM

Psalm Meditation 744
Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 21, 2014

Psalm 40
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
4 Happy are those who make the LORD their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods.
5 You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.
6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
11 Do not, O LORD, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.
12 For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me.
14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt.
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.
(NRSV)

One of the difficulties of an individualistic view of religion is that we tend to jump into things with lots of enthusiasm but without focus and refinement. When the psalmist writes about having spoken of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness, it begins in the great congregation. In the congregation, in the midst of others who have had their own experience and their own encounter with God, a word of witness can be turned from an enthusiastic rant into a compelling and captivating word for those who have yet to have a personal experience with God. The folks in the congregation offer a person who has just had an encounter with the living God a place to gush about their experience without scaring away someone who neither knows nor understands what the witness has gone through.

A willing ear and a guiding hand from one who has had their own encounter with God can help drain some of the wide eyed recklessness out of the story so that the power of the experience remains. To have a person or group make the time to help us practice, edit and refine the words of our witness takes us from scary ‘buttonhole evangelists’ to powerful witnesses to the love God has for each and all of us. The great congregation helps make each of us stronger as we push, pull, lift and lower together.

The collective wisdom of years, decades and centuries of experience of and encounters with the living God make the great congregation an excellent group of which to be a part. The accountability of the group keeps us from holding our relationship with God so close that we become as Gollum holding his ‘precious’ in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is in the mix of the great congregation that we “seek you, rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!””

September 15, 2014
LCM