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

Psalm Meditation 1368 ¶Proper 18 ¶September 6, 2026 ¶Psalm 96 ¶https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2096&version=NRSVUE ¶Ask a group of pre-school children, ‘How many of you can sing?’ and all of their hands will go up. The same with dancing, drawing, and any number of arts and crafts. As they get older and people around them judge the quality of their work, they begin to question their abilities and stop practicing the ones in which those judges found them to be less than skilled. There are people with beautiful voices who were told not to sing so they don’t, as well as people who need a bucket to carry a tune, who sing anyway. ¶The psalmist does not put a caveat in the psalm; the invitation is to sing. There is nothing about full volume, or a whispered song; the invitation is to sing. Sing in your best voice, recognizing that there may be a difference between your best and the best. Most importantly, the focus is not on you and your voice, the focus is on God. God has done wonderful things that, once we have noticed do well to be lifted up in thanks with praise. Does God need our praise? No. None of us needs to be praised, however it does give us a boost to be noticed and thanked for what we do. ¶Stay focused on God. The more we lift our hearts and voices in praise and thanksgiving, the more we notice, and the more thankful we can be. Our thankfulness will lead us to join the psalmist in lifting our hearts and voices in thankful song. “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar and all that fills it; let the field exult and everything in it.” ¶August 31, 2026 ¶LCM

Psalm Meditation 1367 Proper 17 August 30, 2026 Psalm 93 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2093&version=NRSVUE If you say a word or phrase that is remotely similar to a song or poem that I know, I will break into song or recite the relevant snippet of that poem, It will be brief, may or may not be loud, and may annoy folks for whom that is not normal practice. Some people can come up with an original song or poem with the same amount of prompting. It isn’t something that anyone plans to do, it is a spontaneous reaction to what is going on around them and within them. This brief psalm may well be one of those kinds of poems. Seeing the waves crashing on a shoreline, perhaps with a bit more ferocity than usual, leads the psalmist to be reminded of the power of God at work in the world. Those same waves don’t hold a candle to the full majesty of God’s presence in the world. The psalmist celebrates that God is a present and able ruler in the world, capable of stirring up waves with their accompanying thunderous crashes. Whether you are one who breaks into song, breaks out a poem, or one who wonders what possesses a person to do such a thing, may you see that God is filled with loving holiness for all of creation, including each one of us. “Your decrees are very sure; holiness befits your house, O Lord, forevermore.” August 24, 2026 LCM