Showing posts with label Psalm 81. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 81. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Psalm Meditation 1370
¶Proper 20
¶September 20, 2026
¶Psalm 81
¶https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2081&version=NRSVUE
¶One of my seminary professors told us that if we wanted to stop the conversations around us we could use one or more of these words: money, sex, death. People will stop to listen to what anyone has to say about any of these three words because they are somehow sacred in US culture. Pastors are often cautioned not to preach about money, mostly because it is an uncomfortable topic. We are not supposed to talk to each other about money because it is personal/private/secret. Sex and death fall into the same category of taboo subjects.
¶Are we not to talk about these things because they have a type of divine power over us? Have we turned these topics into golden calves that we use as substitutes for the power and presence of God in our lives? God tells us through the psalmist that no good comes from turning our attention to things that are not God. If only we would submit to God instead of chasing after things that seem to satisfy but do not, we would be open to the blessings, help and presence of God in our lives. Being open to God’s presence allows us to see and experience the whole range of God’s activity in our lives.
¶As we find ourselves scrambling for more of any number of things that are not God, as if those things had ultimate value and worth, we do well to remember this psalm. We can remind ourselves that as we submit to God we may find ourselves heirs of much that we sought after on its own. “O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! Then I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever. I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
¶September 16, 2026
¶LCM
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Psalm Meditation 1197
¶Pentecost
¶May 28, 2023
¶Psalm 81
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+81&version=NRSVUE
(NRSV)
¶Though most of us hate to be punished for anything, we are okay with God punishing us as long as it also means that our enemies suffer humiliations galore at some point in the future, and we are back to being God’s favorites once again. We like to know that God is really on our side. Anything bad that may happen to us is punishment for some sin we may have committed inadvertently, or even purposefully. We want to know that we are special, and that all the people we don’t like are on God’s naughty list.
¶We conveniently forget that God is not our special property. If we are set apart, it is not something we have earned it is something that God has chosen to do for us. My guess is that every faith and religion is of the opinion that God has a special claim on them/us, and has a special mission for them/us. We each want our relationship with God to be exclusive, that we are the only ones to have God’s attention and affection. What if, God loves each and all of us as if we were unique and specially set apart for some task and purpose? Like spokes in a bicycle wheel, we come from and go to separate places in order to fulfill the special function we have.
¶It would be good if we could see each other as companions on the journey with wide variations in our relationship with God and with each other. God does want to subdue our enemies, however not in the way we are used to having that happen. God wants us to submit to the power of relationship that allows us to get along even as we disagree in all manner of things. Rather than vying to destroy each other, I believe God would like to gather us at the table of companionship where, “I would feed you[d] with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
¶May 23, 2023
¶LCM
Monday, June 26, 2017
Psalm Meditation 889
Proper 8
July 2, 2017
Psalm 81
1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known:
6 “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.
13 O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever.
16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
(NRSV)
Humans seem to like the idea of one or more divine beings watching over us and teaching us how to live with each other, and maybe even those who are not like us. Prophets and teachers rise up to show us what it means to live in the presence of the holy ones who desire, and sometimes demand, our love and allegiance. And we are grateful to hear these voices and the advice and admonitions they offer to us as people of faith and practice. Our gratitude does have its limits. There comes a time when we would rather live our lives on our own terms.
In these times we look around for a set of divine beings who ask a little less of us, and in some cases ask more of us. In the case of the psalmist, there comes a realization that the people of Israel have moved away from the God of their ancestors and have taken to doing things their own way. They may continue to say that they are acting in the name of God, however their actions bear no resemblance to the ways they were taught as the ways of their God. The psalmist hears the voice of God saying that if people would return to the ways they were taught in previous generations there would not be the troubles they now face.
If only the Israelites were the only ones who ever rounded the edges and dulled the sharpness of their faith and faithfulness. I hope in most cases these things happen by inaction and inattention. There are times in which people knowingly twist the word and ways of God to suit their fancy. Because it is an easier way, a more agreeable way, no one bothers to mention that it is not God’s way by any stretch of the imagination. And so, God continues to call us back to lives of faith and action based on the word and work of God.
June 26, 2017
LCM
Proper 8
July 2, 2017
Psalm 81
1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known:
6 “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.
13 O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever.
16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
(NRSV)
Humans seem to like the idea of one or more divine beings watching over us and teaching us how to live with each other, and maybe even those who are not like us. Prophets and teachers rise up to show us what it means to live in the presence of the holy ones who desire, and sometimes demand, our love and allegiance. And we are grateful to hear these voices and the advice and admonitions they offer to us as people of faith and practice. Our gratitude does have its limits. There comes a time when we would rather live our lives on our own terms.
In these times we look around for a set of divine beings who ask a little less of us, and in some cases ask more of us. In the case of the psalmist, there comes a realization that the people of Israel have moved away from the God of their ancestors and have taken to doing things their own way. They may continue to say that they are acting in the name of God, however their actions bear no resemblance to the ways they were taught as the ways of their God. The psalmist hears the voice of God saying that if people would return to the ways they were taught in previous generations there would not be the troubles they now face.
If only the Israelites were the only ones who ever rounded the edges and dulled the sharpness of their faith and faithfulness. I hope in most cases these things happen by inaction and inattention. There are times in which people knowingly twist the word and ways of God to suit their fancy. Because it is an easier way, a more agreeable way, no one bothers to mention that it is not God’s way by any stretch of the imagination. And so, God continues to call us back to lives of faith and action based on the word and work of God.
June 26, 2017
LCM
Monday, September 21, 2015
Psalm Meditation 797
Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 27, 2015
Psalm 81
1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt.
I hear a voice I had not known:
6 “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.
13 O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever.
16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
(NRSV)
The first time I read verse 9 today I read it as a commandment, a word to the people that they were not to pick up the habits and religious observances of the people around them. It may seem easier to worship one whose demands are less stringent, whose feast days are filled with different activities than what they were used to doing. Somehow, new and different seems more compelling and exciting than the same old same old. For whatever reason they might choose to follow the ways of another religious culture, the God of Israel warns them against it.
The second time I read it as a promise. God says, “I am not going to let you be overrun by folks who will force a new and strange religion down your throats. I have delivered you in the past and I will continue to deliver you in the present and future. Open your mouth, your throat, your heart and I will fill you with great and wonderful things.” There are no commandments at this point, there is only the invitation to be open to all that God offers. Openness to the promise leads to its fulfillment.
The way we read the psalm, this one verse, may make all the difference in what we expect and what we receive from God. The words are the same either way. How we hear God said those words to us makes a world of difference. When we read and hear them as a command we experience God as a judge, asking that we follow the rules as they are set forth in the letter of the law. When we read and hear them as a promise we experience God as one who wants to give us good things if only we are open to those things. Yes, it is more of a sliding scale than a one or the other choice. The important question we face is, do we, do I, see God as more of a judge or as one who is ready to make and keep promises out of a deep love for us, for me?
September 21, 2015
LCM
Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 27, 2015
Psalm 81
1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt.
I hear a voice I had not known:
6 “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.
13 O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever.
16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
(NRSV)
The first time I read verse 9 today I read it as a commandment, a word to the people that they were not to pick up the habits and religious observances of the people around them. It may seem easier to worship one whose demands are less stringent, whose feast days are filled with different activities than what they were used to doing. Somehow, new and different seems more compelling and exciting than the same old same old. For whatever reason they might choose to follow the ways of another religious culture, the God of Israel warns them against it.
The second time I read it as a promise. God says, “I am not going to let you be overrun by folks who will force a new and strange religion down your throats. I have delivered you in the past and I will continue to deliver you in the present and future. Open your mouth, your throat, your heart and I will fill you with great and wonderful things.” There are no commandments at this point, there is only the invitation to be open to all that God offers. Openness to the promise leads to its fulfillment.
The way we read the psalm, this one verse, may make all the difference in what we expect and what we receive from God. The words are the same either way. How we hear God said those words to us makes a world of difference. When we read and hear them as a command we experience God as a judge, asking that we follow the rules as they are set forth in the letter of the law. When we read and hear them as a promise we experience God as one who wants to give us good things if only we are open to those things. Yes, it is more of a sliding scale than a one or the other choice. The important question we face is, do we, do I, see God as more of a judge or as one who is ready to make and keep promises out of a deep love for us, for me?
September 21, 2015
LCM
Monday, August 6, 2012
Psalm Meditation 634
Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 12, 2012
Psalm 81
1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known:
6 "I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. (Selah)
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
11 "But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.
13 O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever.
16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."
(NRSV)
With my Puritan/American upbringing things like verse 4 catch me off guard. God not only wants us to celebrate, it is a statute, a law, that we do it? We can get so caught up in being serious, and right, and perfect that we forget to celebrate and enjoy what life in God brings to us. I am reminded of advice from those who work in the public eye. They have discovered that the hard work is in the practice and preparation time. The hours of perfecting technique and connecting the dots from one skill to the next finally give way to the performance that is done with near reckless abandon. There comes a time when the driving motivation is celebration.
If only we would let go and celebrate we could open ourselves to the abundance God offers to us. That abundance is probably not the kinds of things you can hold in your hands; the abundance of God is so much more than anything that can be held in one’s hands. God offers things like hope and peace and a sense of abundance that goes beyond the ‘stuff’ of life. According to the psalmist, if we were to submit ourselves to God we would spend less time fretting over things that currently drive us. We would be less concerned with worldly matters and more concerned with things of God.
Our stubborn hearts, following our own counsels, have gotten us into all sorts of fights and arguments with good and bad ideas on every side. These stubborn hearts don’t lead us to God. Stubbornness doesn’t really lead anywhere, it digs in and camps out with no intention of moving for any reason. To walk in the way of God is to move somewhere, to give and take in some way that leads to more relationships than battlegrounds. To walk in the way of God gives more credence to people than theories. To walk in the way of God leads to celebration.
August 6, 2012
Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
August 12, 2012
Psalm 81
1 Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known:
6 "I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. (Selah)
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
11 "But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.
13 O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever.
16 I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."
(NRSV)
With my Puritan/American upbringing things like verse 4 catch me off guard. God not only wants us to celebrate, it is a statute, a law, that we do it? We can get so caught up in being serious, and right, and perfect that we forget to celebrate and enjoy what life in God brings to us. I am reminded of advice from those who work in the public eye. They have discovered that the hard work is in the practice and preparation time. The hours of perfecting technique and connecting the dots from one skill to the next finally give way to the performance that is done with near reckless abandon. There comes a time when the driving motivation is celebration.
If only we would let go and celebrate we could open ourselves to the abundance God offers to us. That abundance is probably not the kinds of things you can hold in your hands; the abundance of God is so much more than anything that can be held in one’s hands. God offers things like hope and peace and a sense of abundance that goes beyond the ‘stuff’ of life. According to the psalmist, if we were to submit ourselves to God we would spend less time fretting over things that currently drive us. We would be less concerned with worldly matters and more concerned with things of God.
Our stubborn hearts, following our own counsels, have gotten us into all sorts of fights and arguments with good and bad ideas on every side. These stubborn hearts don’t lead us to God. Stubbornness doesn’t really lead anywhere, it digs in and camps out with no intention of moving for any reason. To walk in the way of God is to move somewhere, to give and take in some way that leads to more relationships than battlegrounds. To walk in the way of God gives more credence to people than theories. To walk in the way of God leads to celebration.
August 6, 2012
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