Psalm Meditation 1375 ¶Proper 25 ¶October 25, 2026 ¶Psalm 103 ¶https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20103&version=NRSVUE ¶This is one of my favorite psalms, not just because of what it says; because of who it brings to mind. My dad used to wake us up with the first couple of verses as a way to remind us that we have a lot to be thankful for. We can be thankful for all of our blessings, including forgiveness, healing, redemption, and steadfast love. Even during bad days we can find something to be thankful for, and that overarching it all is that those things come from God sometimes directly, and sometimes through the people around us. ¶This psalm also provides the lyrics to one of the songs from Godspell. A group of high school friends used to sing this and other songs together in various settings. Then in college I was a member of the cast in a traveling production of the show. People from those two groups are treasured friends to this day. We serve to remind each other that there are some wonderful people in this world. Though we have drifted in many directions we can get together and be a group of friends and family bound by the play, the music, and the mutual love. ¶The psalm itself is a powerful reminder that we don’t need to do anything to be loved and forgiven by God. Those are a part of who God is among us. Well meaning folks will work hard to convince us that we need to do something for God before we can be loved and forgiven. I am convinced that the love and forgiveness of God are already ours, no matter who we are or what we do. The difficulty is in accepting that steadfast love and forgiveness are staring us in the face waiting for us to allow them to be a part of our lives. ¶October 21, 2026 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1374 ¶Proper 24 ¶October 18, 2026 ¶Psalm 99 ¶https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2099&version=NRSVUE ¶Justice can be lopsided when people get involved in it. Try as we might be impartial, we will lean a little to one side or the other. We will either be excessively generous to the side we like the best or we will be harder on them so we can’t be accused of favoritism. Either way, our prejudices color our attempts at fairness and justice. We read evil intent into the well-meaning actions of the ‘other’ folks and make excuses for the evil actions of our own people. Despite our best efforts to the contrary, we end up with our thumb on the balance of justice. ¶The psalmist invites us to exalt and honor YHWH since God acts with actual justice and righteousness in every situation. When Moses, Aaron, and Samuel called on God, they were each answered with the forgiveness they required and requested. However, when they acted outside the decrees and statutes of God, they were called to account for their misdeeds. Their behavior was not excused because of their, otherwise, faithful adherence. Their sins were punished with the same fairness that their righteousness was rewarded. ¶While we can’t get past our own prejudices, we can look to God to discern what is the most just way to proceed in treating those around us whether we see them as people of worth or not. Through the eyes of God we may see good where we want to see evil just as easily as we may see evil in those we would rather excuse. “Extol the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.” ¶October 12, 2026 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1373 ¶Proper 23 ¶October 11, 2026 ¶Psalm 95 ¶https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2095&version=NRSVUE ¶There are folks who can remain calm in the most tempestuous surroundings. They can express anger, disappointment, and frustration without losing their temper and resorting to violence. There are others who lose their temper at the slightest inconvenience or annoyance. The rest of us fall in between those extremes, keeping it together and losing it completely depending on a whole host of variables that come into play for us. Whatever our style of dealing with problems, we see God reacting in that same style. ¶The psalmist sees God reacting in anger to the belligerence of the people moving toward the promised land. The situation becomes a tit for tat event. ‘If you are going to act like that, then I am going to keep you from entering into the land I promised earlier generations.’ It gives the people a lot of power over God, that they can cause God to react to their behavior by pushing the wrong buttons. However, we do not have that kind of power over God. Even if God is angry with us, it is unlikely that we will get a violent reaction simply because we did something stupid, sinful, or foolish. ¶One of my go to sentiments on the way God works is that we are not punished for our sin so much as we are punished by our sin. The ways we act and react to the world around us has consequences that are difficult to avoid. We may pay the price ourselves, we may share the consequences with those around us, and we may avoid the consequences while someone else suffers for our misdeeds. Whether God is the direct cause of our suffering or not, the hand of God is active in our lives. The constant in all of life is that God loves us and wants the best for us, in every situation. ¶October 5, 2026 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1372 ¶Proper 22 ¶October 4, 2026 ¶Psalm 92 ¶https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2092&version=NRSVUE ¶Thankfulness is an ever deepening well. As we give thanks for one thing we notice something else to be thankful for. It doesn’t even seem as if we are doing something difficult since we mine a little bit at a time into the depths of thankfulness. Somewhere along the line we notice that there is more to be thankful for than we could ever list. The more we see, the deeper and broader our thankfulness becomes. ¶The psalmist discovers that being thankful for all that God is and does, gives rise to a sense of hope, that though the wicked seem to flourish, it is not forever. It is the presence and blessings of God that continue to abide with us through the good times and the dark times. Those who give thanks are ever open to see the goodness of God at work in the world, to appreciate the impact on those around them, and to see the ever-widening circle of righteousness around them. ¶God offers us abundance and flourishing in the best and worst of times. When we open our hearts, eyes, ears, and hands to receive and share that abundance; when thankfulness fills us and spills out of us, we tap into the good gifts that God offers to us. We stand firm on the rock of God’s righteousness with thankful hearts. ¶September 28, 2026 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1371 ¶Proper 21 ¶September 27, 2026 ¶Psalm 77 ¶https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2077&version=NRSVUE ¶Sometimes children get so frightened that they cannot do the simplest things. A parent reaches out and the child is unable to move enough to grasp the proffered hand. In the child’s mind it is somehow the parent’s fault that the saving connection doesn’t happen. The psalmist appears to be in that same frozen state; hands are stretched out, eyes are open, yet no contact is possible. The psalmist’s best comfort is that God has been active and present in the past, so there is hope that this feeling of abandonment will not last forever. ¶In times like these we want to know that we are not alone in our suffering. Doris Jones authored a book, And Not One Bird Stopped Singing, dealing with the death of her husband. As of this writing, the book is out of print. The title comes from her realization that though her world stopped turning, the rest of the world went on as if nothing had happened. She was not the only one facing the death of a loved one, however, that is how it felt to her, how it feels to the psalmist, how it feels to each of us who faces tragedy, even if we are surrounded by a supportive community of friends and family. ¶Though it feels as if we are abandoned and alone in the world as we go through tragedy and grief, we are never alone. God is with us every step of the way whether we realize it or not. As God has been present with those who have gone before us, God is with us in all times and places. “You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the peoples. With your strong arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.” ¶September 21, 2026 ¶LCM

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

Psalm Meditation 1369 ¶Proper 19 ¶September 13, 2026 ¶Psalm 85 ¶https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2085&version=NRSVUE ¶We like the idea of God being in charge of our lives because it takes a lot of the responsibility away from us. When things are going well, it must be because God is pleased with us. Good things are happening, so God must be happy with us. When that changes, we see God as disappointed about something we have done, said, or thought. In the psalmist’s time, it was not so much about individual behavior as it was the nation as a whole. Since things that were going well have started to disintegrate, it is time to ask God to look on us with favor once again. ¶‘Yes, we may not have been on our best behavior, however it is God who has turned our world upside down in retaliation. Other nations are doing stupid, selfish things and getting away with them, so why do we have to be punished for being like everyone else?’ God is not one who reacts according to our behavior; God acts out of love for us and faithfulness to us. When we feel as if God has turned against us, it is often because we have put up a barrier to God’s activity in our lives. ¶We do well to remember that God is always with us, offering us peace and salvation. All we have to do is open our hands and hearts to receive it. We will continue to come face to face with adversity, and we will continue to be in the presence of God, who loves us beyond measure. “Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.” ¶September 7, 2026 ¶LCM