Psalm Meditation 1328 ¶First Sunday of Advent ¶November 30, 2025 ¶Psalm 56 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2056&version=NRSVUE ¶When a teenager is going through the drama of being that age, we have a tendency to laugh or smile at the depths of their feelings. ‘If they only knew what was coming in adulthood, they would not be so broken up about this.’ What we forget is that they don’t know what is coming, just like we didn’t know in our teen lives. They take it hard because it is the worst thing, or series of things that has ever happened to them. We, as adults, would brush this kind of pain off as nearly inconsequential, instead of remembering back to our own days of teen drama. ¶When we go through our own drama, there will likely be someone who has been through worse. Some will tell us about it, some will empathize with us, even though their own drama would break us. When the psalmist is being oppressed by foes on every side, and in every moment, his suffering would put ours to shame. At the same time, this psalm is shared with us to remind us that no matter the depth of our pain and suffering God is present with us. God is with us whenever we feel oppressed and distressed by anything going on in our lives whether it be teenage angst or the horrors of battle. ¶It is easy to take the suffering of others lightly, especially when it is something we have endured, gotten through, and moved on from in our own lives. It is easy, however it is not faithful. People of faith are encouraged to lift up the downtrodden whether they are suffering a first or a final clash with foes from the outside or the inside. The psalmist reminds us to be grateful for the deliverance we have received and to help others endure their trials. ¶November 25, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1327 ¶Reign of Christ ¶November 23, 2025 ¶Psalm 50 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2050&version=NRSVUE ¶How many of us find ourselves doing things to impress God with our worthiness in regards to our salvation. We are part of the right congregation, we go to all the right meetings, sit in the proper seat with a good view of all the people we know to be sinners so that we can better judge them for their hypocrisy, coming to worship as if they deserve to be there. Aaand, we participate in all the fund raisers, and many of the mission projects; we even go on the field trips to build a sense of community in the congregation. ¶We spend so much time in our attempts to impress God with our sacrifices of time, talent, and energy that we forget what God really wants from us. It isn’t about great deeds of derring-do, saving the world from other people’s sins, or going to all the meetings we would rather not attend, it is about being thankful. God has all the ‘stuff’ that we offer to help ourselves be noticed by God as well as others. God wants us to thankful in a way that touches others with a sense of thankfulness as well. When we are willingly and openly thankful, we keep finding more and more things to be thankful for and thankful about. And thankfulness rubs off on others and feeds on itself. ¶When we live thankfully we touch people in the same way God touches us, with a leaning toward thanks, grace, and mercy. As we touch people with thanks rather than judgement, we each take a step closer to the life that leads to a growing awareness that we are already in the realm of God. “Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way, I will show the salvation of God.” ¶November 17, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1326 ¶Proper 28 ¶November 16, 2025 ¶Psalm 44 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2044&version=NRSVUE ¶We can get so sure that God is with us, to help us in every time and place that we forget that God is not at our beck and call. God is with us in every time and place, however that does not mean that God will participate in every foolish side quest on which we embark. God will still be there to be present with us without helping us do whatever we thing needs to be done in a given situation. God can be depended on to be God. That means that God will neither lead us nor follow us into a situation that compromises the will of God. ¶We can be so sure that we don’t need God’s help or presence with something that we rush in and muck it up in a way that does damage to all involved. We decide without listening what it is that God wants done and we rush in, put all of our energy into whatever it is only to fail miserably in an otherwise noble cause. And yes, these are two perspectives on what can happen when we fail to discern what is the will of God for us in a given situation. It may be a good project, just not one that we need to be involved in. ¶The psalmist has rushed in to a noble project without any discernment as to the will of God. God stands back and lets it happen, since that is the nature of free will, and the army rushes in and suffers great losses because that can be a consequence of free will. We do well to listen for the word and will of God before we venture into a project, a mission/ministry, or a battle. A group of which I was a part was often approached to help in a worthwhile project, and sometimes the answer was, ‘that is a great project and we wish you godspeed, however that is outside of our mission statement so we must decline.’ ¶November 10, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1325 ¶Proper 27 ¶October 9, 2025 ¶Psalm 39 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2039&version=NRSVUE ¶When we are feeling particularly down, as one of my mentors would say, feeling, helpless, hopeless, worthless we will see our lives as amazingly brief and inconsequential. We are but a breath, a featherweight’s worth of consequence in the world and the whole scope of human history. We know that if we were to disappear we would not be missed and our absence not noticed. Yet, as we wallow in our smallness, we also turn to God for comfort, meaning, and reassurance. ¶The psalmist turns to God even though it feels as if God is the one responsible for the misery being experienced. The reason we turn to God is that God finds it important to discipline us despite our seeming insignificance in the world. God’s attention to our lives is a reminder that though our lives seem insignificant, God sees us. If we are important enough for God to notice and be concerned about us, we do have worth in the world even as we feel insignificant. ¶While I was a seminary student, I got called in to the bishop’s office, While I fretted over the probable negative outcome of that visit, one of my classmates told me that I could see this visit in a much more positive light by recognizing that the bishop cared enough about me to have a conversation with me. Recognizing that the bishop is not God, the concern for one seemingly lowly seminary student is an apt illustration of the concern that God has for each of us, no matter how we see ourselves in the scope of salvation history. ¶November 3, 2025 ¶LCM

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