Psalm Meditation 674
Day of Pentecost
May 19, 2013

Psalm 89 (selected verses)
1 I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.
2 I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.
3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David:
4 ‘I will establish your descendants forever, and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah
5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD,
7 a God feared in the council of the holy ones, great and awesome above all that are around him?
8 O LORD God of hosts, who is as mighty as you, O LORD? Your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.
13 You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Happy are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of your countenance;
19 Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said: I have set the crown on one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20 I have found my servant David; with my holy oil I have anointed him;
21 my hand shall always remain with him; my arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not outwit him, the wicked shall not humble him.
23 I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him; and in my name his horn shall be exalted.
30 If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my ordinances,
31 if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with scourges;
33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love, or be false to my faithfulness.
35 Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David.
49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
50 Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted; how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples,
51 with which your enemies taunt, O LORD, with which they taunted the footsteps of your anointed.
52 Blessed be the LORD forever. Amen and Amen.
(NRSV)

The history of the kings of the Davidic dynasty is spotty at best. One of the difficulties with them is their willingness to accept the steadfast love of God without also accepting the responsibility to live as if the presence of God mattered in their lives. My guess is that these were not conscious choices so much as assumptions on the part of the kings. They assumed that things would go along as they had always gone without a lot of change one way or the other. If they thought of God at all, it was as one more being standing ready to do whatever was asked or demanded of them.

While we don’t have the power of a king, there are times in which we believe that God stands ready to do for us whatever it is we ask, because we are simply that important to God. Folks ask for things so that God won’t be embarrassed to be seen with them, folks ask for the weather to clear so that they can be about the business of God without delay or interruption, just to name two. God does answer these prayers in some form. In some cases the weather clears or we receive the items for which we have asked and we know that we are so precious or important in the sight of God that God will do whatever we ask. In most cases we receive the assurance from God that God loves us and is more impressed by faithfulness than the stuff with which we surround ourselves. Or, God reminds us that our schedules can be adjusted and that safety is more important than prompt arrivals.

When we begin to feel a sense of entitlement with God, we may still receive all for which we ask. It will not be because we have actually earned it as much as it will be because God loves us. Most of the time, our prayers serve to remind us that it is we who are to live in the presence of God, which may mean adjusting our wants and needs to line up with God. And when things don’t go as either God or we would like, our prayers remind us that the steadfast love of God is with us in all of the events of life.

May 13, 2013