Psalm Meditation 700
Twenty sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time
November 17, 2013

Psalm 4
1 Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.
2 How long, you people, shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the LORD has set apart the faithful for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.
4 When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.
6 There are many who say, “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O LORD!”
7 You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound.
8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety.
(NRSV)

The psalmist believes that our actions have a direct effect on the way God treats us. If we turn away from proper practice of our faith God turns away from us and leaves us to the consequences of our sin. As long as we do the right thing, go through the proper rituals and have some personal investment in the process God will be good to us. As soon as we stop doing what God has asked of us we are left alone.

I too believe that our actions have an effect on the presence of God in our lives but in a different way. As we fail to live out of love, forgiveness and generosity we wander away from the way that leads to the presence of God. It is not that we are abandoned so much as we lose the ability or the willingness to see and experience the presence of God in our lives. Once we stop practicing the presence of God we begin to lose the ability to see God in all times and spaces.

Both viewpoints acknowledge that we are separated from God as a consequence of our actions. In one view God walks away from us, in the other we walk away from God. We have some responsibility either way, the difference is in the view of God. For the psalmist, God can be provoked into moving away from us. In the other view, we move away from God and are left to pay the consequences. God is always with us, always available to us, it is we who choose to ignore that God is with us. Even then, God seeks us out, invites us, calls us into a relationship that seeks out God’s abiding presence among us.

November 11, 2013