Psalm Meditation 1338 ¶Fifth Sunday after Epiphany ¶February 8, 2026 ¶Psalm 54 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2054&version=NRSVUE ¶There is a familiar movie trope in which someone is getting picked on by a person or group and when their friend finds out about it, they set out to avenge the wrong. In some cases the victim lets the bullies know that they have this friend, and the bullies are not the least bit frightened by the prospect of having to deal with the friend. Most of the time the friend comes in and by stealth or bravado takes out the bullies thereby saving or at least avenging the victim. ¶The psalmist is being picked on by those who were being trusted with the psalmist’s safety according to the psalm’s ascription. David calls on God, YHWH, to serve as protector and avenger in this situation. The Ziphites are more interested in appeasing Saul than God. David asks God to deal with the Ziphites, especially since they don’t have the same priorities as David. David anticipates that God will repay these now enemies for the evil of going to Saul rather than turning to God. ¶It is important for us to realize that not every enemy of ours is an enemy of God. Sometimes, those who seem to stand against God are actually on the side of God and want to turn us back in the right direction. The task before each of us who wants to follow God is to recognize that our task is to ask that we align ourselves with God, rather than asking God to align with us. ¶February 2, 2026 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1337 ¶Fourth Sunday After Epiphany ¶February 1, 2026 ¶Psalm 48 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2048&version=NRSVUE ¶Many of us have a place that, to us, is more sacred and holy than it is to most people. For some it is a Disney park, a camp ground that is full of memories, a family heritage site, a place that holds some personal significance of life changing import, for others it is a person or group that feels like home no matter where they may be. For the psalmist, that place is Mount Zion. God has been there through thick and thin, victory and defeat. In this instance, the presence of God has made a positive difference, as adversaries gathered, saw the glory of the city and went their separate ways. ¶Once the groups of adversaries scatter, the people gather in the temple to “ponder your steadfast love, O God“ They know they have been delivered by the strength of the hand of God, visible in the strength and beauty of the city. The people may have built the city, however it is God who blessed the place and the work that went in to it. The psalmist does not take the presence of God for granted, celebrating it in all the parts of the city, especially in the gathering of the people in the temple, a beacon of and memorial to, the presence of God. ¶While we may not hold our cities and towns in the same reverence as the psalmist, we can still be aware that the presence of God is very much a part of anywhere and everywhere we may find ourselves. That awareness can bring us to the same sense of gratitude with which the psalmist begins, “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God.” ¶January 26, 2026 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1336 ¶Third Sunday After Epiphany ¶January 25, 2026 ¶Psalm 42 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2042&version=NRSVUE ¶People outside the Abrahamic faiths seem to think that if God, YHWH, comes to our aid it will be in a dramatic and readily visible way, with clouds and winds and giant chariots able to withstand even modern tanks and fighter jets. Their rhetoric is so convincing that some folks in Abrahamic faiths begin to believe that God will come in that way also. We have gotten used to the idea that anything from God has to be dramatic and awesome. Scripture, history, and experience tell a different story. ¶Events may seem dramatic to those who are in the midst of it, however they can almost always be pooh poohed away by those who want to doubt that God is active in our lives, let alone that God exists. For the most part God stays in the background, offering hope, and courage to those who need a prod in the direction of “positive peace, the presence of justice” MLKJ 1963. God stands at the front lines, the picket lines, the bread lines, etc. to be present with those who take a stand for grace, mercy, peace, and justice in the face of tyranny, oppression, might makes right authoritarianism, and other forms of injustice. ¶The psalmist is still ‘cast down’ however not without hope. Remembering all the ways that God has been active in the psalmist’s life and the struggles of the people and nation serves to lift spirits in the face of adversity. While the psalmist hopes that God will intervene in some direct and visible way, God tends to infuse hope, courage, and perseverance into those who live in the ways that lead to God, YHWH. ¶January 19, 2026 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1335 ¶Second Sunday After the Epiphany ¶January 18, 2026 ¶Psalm 59 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2059&version=NRSVUE ¶The most useful tool of those in power is fear. Fear can get us to watch for enemies before they enter our communities, and it can get us to see enemies in friends, relatives, acquaintances, and neighbors. If we are being threatened by an actual malicious enemy, the fear can be real and helpful. If we are being distracted from something important by fear-mongering, the fear is a manipulation of our self protective instincts. For whatever reason it is used fear is a very effective tool. ¶If the introduction to this psalm has been attached from the beginning, we can see that all Saul needed to do is make it appear that he is out to kill David for David to be extra vigilant. To David’s credit, he turns to God for deliverance from the threat with which Saul has weighed him down. David is being intimidated by sounds of strength and fury that are deeply upsetting. However, rather than being cowed by the threats David gives the whole situation over to God and lifts his own voice in singing as a sign of his assurance that God is in this situation. ¶The specter of intimidation and violence hangs over each of us at some time in our lives. It may or may not be at the same level as that experienced by David, however we have a great example from him as to how we face it. Rise or fall, live or die we can face all manner of hurts and harms when we rest secure in the presence of the living God. ¶January 12, 2026 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1334 ¶Baptism of the Lord ¶January 11, 2026 ¶Psalm 60 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2055&version=NRSVUE ¶Many of us assume that God is one who controls everything, causes our calamities and comforts, leaving us with little to do but go on as if we have a say in our lives. My theology professor asked us as class began, ‘How do you parents know when you have lost control of your children?’ No one answered since we had never lost control of our children. (Yeah, right) He answered his question with, ‘You have lost control when you have to reach out to restrain your child. God does not lose control.’ ¶If we bring ourselves to calamity, as in this psalm, God stands with us to support us as we recover from our ill fitting choices. We can say that God caused something to happen, which makes God an adversary, or we can recognize that we have made a foolish choice or two that put us where we are. In the latter case God’s presence is a source of comfort and strength to help us navigate the effects of our choices and get things back to a new normal. In the best of all worlds, that new normal includes a closer relationship with God. ¶There is some comfort in believing that everything that happens for good or ill is directly caused by God. We are not finally responsible for anything that goes on around us. I would rather see God as one who chooses to be present with us, sending us people who will teach us and lead us in ways that lead to a closer relationship with God. The presence of God acts as a comfort and blessing to us in every time and place rather than as a source of foreboding as we await the next punishment for our sin. ¶January 5, 2026 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1333 ¶Second Sunday After Christmas ¶January 4, 2026 ¶Psalm 55 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2055&version=NRSVUE ¶Grudges have a way of doing more damage to those holding them than to those who are the objects of those grudges. If the other did the damage intentionally, they are happy to see us burdened by our anger against them and will twist that knife at every opportunity. If the other did the damage with the best intentions, they may notice the barrier between us and them without knowing the source of it. Either way, we are the ones carrying the burden while they go on their merry way. ¶The psalmist determines that the best course of action is to call upon God to find and destroy those frenemies because of their evil actions. Anger is easy when their actions involve getting at us through a friend or loved one, or going for the friend or loved one with no regard for our relationship with them. The anger is real and justifiable. Calling on God to destroy a person or group is understandable in the heat of the moment. However, actually expecting God to carry out our desires goes against the ways of God. ¶God loves each one of us, because it is the nature of God to love, rather than because we have earned it or deserve it. While we may rail at God to wipe out everyone who has ever wronged us, it is more in line with the ways of God to have God lead us to forgive those who have wronged us and our friends and loved ones. That certainly does not mean that we will be best buds again any time soon, it means that we wish them the best going forward with the hope and prayer that their future does not include us. ¶December 29, 2025 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1332 ¶First Sunday After Christmas ¶December 28, 2025 ¶Psalm 49 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2049&version=NRSVUE ¶It is pretty common to wish that we could be rich. Some even say that being rich would not change them. I have come to believe that this is true of each of us. Money does not have the power to make us different, it accents who we are. People who are selfish use their money for themselves, those who are wasteful will waste a lot of money as quickly as they wasted a little, people who are generous will be as generous with a lot as they are with a little, and bullies will bully people with their money. Some will be a bit more lavish in their types of spending, and some will take John Wesley’s advice, “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” ¶The psalmist tells us that money doesn’t change things for very long, because each of us is going to die. No matter how much a person may have it will do them no good when they are dead. We may have an ostentatious burial place, however that will not make us any more or less alive. “Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life; there is no price one can give to God for it.“ People will be impressed with our riches while we live and may well forget about us soon if all we had to offer was riches without relationships. ¶“Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that perish.” We can live a lavish lifestyle for as long as we live, however, once we die it no longer matters how grand our lives were, what will matter is what kind of relationships we leave behind. Will we be in the hearts and minds of those we leave behind, as well as in the heart and mind of God, or will we be a warning to others that wealth will only buy things? ¶December 22, 2025 ¶LCM