Psalm Meditation 1324 ¶Proper 26 ¶November 2, 2025 ¶Psalm 34 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2034&version=NRSVUE ¶Thankfulness leads to richer, fuller, deeper thankfulness in the same way that cynicism and negativity are breeding grounds for deepening cynicism and negativity. In this psalm, the choice is for thankfulness. Does choosing thankfulness mean that we ignore evil in the world knowing that it will all be hunky dory in the end? No. Choosing to be thankful means that we focus on the good things that make the world around us more bearable. As Mr. Rogers’ mother told him, ‘look for the helpers in troubled times.’ There are always people who look for ways to help others in every time and space. ¶The psalmist says, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” I am convinced that God is ready and willing to answer any and all who ask, and it is those who seek the LORD who give credit to God. However we believe good things happen in our lives, we can be grateful that they do. Thankfulness is not confined to those of us in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Anyone can be thankful, and anyone can lead a life of thankfulness. God recognizes gratitude wherever it abides. ¶“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all.” Do we get plucked out of our afflictions or do we see that we are not alone in them no matter what? I believe it is the second choice. God rarely removes us from trouble, and is more likely to invite us to take refuge in the shelter of God’s presence. Somehow, knowing that we are not alone makes any trouble or affliction more bearable. ¶October 28, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1323 ¶Proper 25 ¶October 26, 2025 ¶Psalm 57 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2057&version=NRSVUE ¶There are times in our lives in which we are in distress and we call out to God for help. When we are delivered through some miraculous series of events we suddenly forget that God is at work in our lives and we are relieved at how easy it was for us to get out of that all by ourselves. God would not have had a hand in something that was such a simple fix, however we will keep God in mind for a time when our difficulties seem insurmountable. Maybe the crisis was not miraculous, it was simply that the right person came along at the right time to offer us the help we need. ¶The psalmist is more than willing to give God the credit for the events that brought this crisis to a conclusion in the psalmist’s favor. This cascade of helpful events not only lead to playing and singing in the privacy of hearth and home, there will be a public proclamation of the goodness of God far and wide, to friends and enemies alike. The psalmist wants to model and encourage thankfulness around the goodness and faithfulness of God in good times and bad, especially for God’s presence in the face of evil. ¶The psalmist invites us and encourages us to give thanks to God for each and every deliverance we experience. In the rare event that God was not actively participating in our deliverance, I am sure that God appreciates our thankfulness in every time and place. As we offer our thanks to God on a regular basis we will find ourselves growing in thankfulness for all the people and events around us. In the late sixties and early seventies some folks around me used the phrase, “Well praise the Lord, anyway.” The psalmist encourages us to say, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.” ¶October 20, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1322 ¶Proper 24 ¶October 19, 2025 ¶Psalm 51 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2051&version=NRSVUE ¶The mystics call it a ‘dark night of the soul,’ a time in which we feel broken, and abandoned, when we don’t feel like doing anything that we usually enjoy doing. We may even feel gross, as if we are not and will never feel clean again, and are not all that concerned about it. We also have times in which we pray for God to release us from all this weight we find ourselves under. We feel as if we must have done something that has brought us to this point, and ask God to forgive us and release us from this burden we are experiencing in this time. ¶The psalmist is willing to shoulder the full blame and responsibility for this current condition. ‘It is my fault, O God, and you are the only one who can set me free from this burden of sin. And while I am asking for release from sin, may I also dare to ask for joy and gladness in my life.’ It is as if God takes some delight in watching us suffer when we are made aware of our sinfulness. We feel as if we have to be punished for all the sins that we commit so that God will begin to love us once again. ¶One of my mentors through the years said, ‘we are not punished for our sin, so much as we are punished by our sin.’ God is not out to get us, God already loves us and does not wish us any harm in body or spirit. When we are in any kind of pain God is present with us waiting to offer us the cleansing we need so that we can experience the joy that God has set our hearts and souls to long for. As we journey toward joy and fulfillment our lives serve as examples of what God offers to everyone. ¶October 13, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1321 ¶Proper 23 ¶September 12, 2025 ¶Psalm 45 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm45&version=NRSVUE ¶With the title ‘Ode for a Royal Wedding’ I have an image of a toast at a modern wedding reception. Not many people can say that a toast given to them was later put in the Scriptures of their faith. The psalmist praises the king and acknowledges some of the ways God has made David a great king, one that anyone would be happy to have as husband with all the great things that will come due to her new prestige as Queen along side David. The attitude may rankle modern temperaments while still being appropriate for the time. ¶The bride is instructed to forget about her father and her family so that she can pour all of her energy into making a family for the king and nation to take pride in. If she is properly subservient the king will be happy with her and she will get rich tribute from Tyre, one of the vassal states which serve David. Royal weddings were not about love, they were about alliances of power between nations. Love and affection were inconsequential. The important thing was consolidation of power and influence between nations. ¶I know that there continue to be marriages that are arranged for the benefit of someone other than the bride or groom. I prefer marriages that are base in love and care, one for the other. And, I believe that God encourages us to take advantage of the steadfast love offered to us in a variety of ways for the sake of a marriage. God also invites us to share that unconditional and steadfast love with all those around us. ¶September 6, 2025 ¶LCM lcmanifold@gmail.com http://psalmmeditations.blogspot.com/

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 1319 ¶Proper 21 ¶September 28, 2025 ¶Psalm 35 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2035&version=NRSVUE ¶I am told that I am, at least, slightly cynical. I am sure there is more truth to that than I am willing to admit, especially when I read psalms like this one. My first interpretation is that this is someone who has done something to upset folks. When those folks begin to retaliate, the psalmist goes into victim mode. ‘Oh God do you see what all those mean people are doing to me? You need to step in and destroy them all.’ I am pretty sure that victim culture is a fairly modern concept, so there must be something else at work for the psalmist. ¶I am told that, despite all the cheerleading to the contrary, Israel was neither big nor powerful in relation to neighboring nation states, so the people and the state were plagued by attacks from more powerful people and nations. Whether the psalmist was David, or someone writing in his name, an attack on the ruler was an attack on the entire nation. And, an attack on the nation was an attack on the ruler. It was demoralizing to be attacked on a regular basis. It was death by a thousand cuts. ¶In the midst of those demoralizing attacks, a voice is raised to God to protect the nation from the folks who spent their time and energy attempting to antagonize and demoralize the people of Israel. If God were to step in to the fray with us, we would know that we can’t be destroyed even if we are driven from our land or killed outright. With God on our side we have the assurance that we have a place in the presence of God, even if we do not have a place on earth to call home. ¶September 22, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1318 ¶Proper 20 ¶September 21, 2025 ¶Psalm 31 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2031&version=NRSVUE ¶In times of trial and uncertainty we seek out a person or place of refuge. We lean in to the comfort that comes from feeling safe, if only for a moment. I imagine that most of those reading these words turn to the God of the Bible for that sense of refuge. In the comfort of God’s presence we find the time and space to reflect on how God is working in the world, as well as how we can be co-laborers in that work. Knowing that God is with us, leading and guiding us, we find the wherewithal to move courageously into the world as people of God. ¶With the assurance of the rock solid presence of God in our lives, we can face the uncertainty of the world around us, and within us. I am convinced that the opposite of faith is certainty, rather than doubt. When we are certain, we have no need for faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) The presence of God in our lives is to give us the strength and courage to move ahead without certainty, believing that whether we succeed or fail in our tasks, we are held in the steadfast love of God. ¶After the psalmist pledges to seek refuge in YHWH, there follows a recital of reasons that God will offer that place of peace. Some of the reasons are because the psalmist is seeking to be a person of God. Most of the reasons are because God has a long history of grace, goodness, trustworthiness, and steadfast love directed toward those who seek to follow the way of God and beyond. ¶September 15, 2025 ¶LCM