Psalm Meditation 703
Second Sunday of Advent
December 8, 2013

Psalm 104
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul.O LORD my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
3 you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind,
4 you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.
5 You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken.
6 You cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they flee; at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
8 They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.
10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills,
11 giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
14 You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the earth,
15 and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
19 You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
21 The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens.
23 People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening.
24 O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there,
    living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
27 These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
28 when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works—
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)

I understand the thinking behind the last verse, that if it weren’t for sinners and wicked folks this world would be a perfect place. Today, though, it sounds selfish. ‘This is such a great place, I hate to share it with people who aren’t like me, people who don’t appreciate these things as I do, people who don’t deserve the nice things I have earned.’ With a worldview based on preserving ‘our’ group by keeping ‘your’ group at a distance, those who are not like us are seen as a threat. Even those inside the group who don’t live up to the rules of the covenant community are seen as dangerous folks.

Strict adherence to the rules, as well as a leaning toward isolationism are the best ways to get a group started. Once the body gets going well it can be opened up to new people, new ideas and new ways of doing things. No matter how long the group has been around or how open it has become, there will always be those who want the group to go back to those founding principles, including the desire to close the group to influences beyond the original core beliefs, practices and identifications. That is not all bad. Those who are opposed to change can be a healthy corrective to those who are ready to branch out in new directions. Sometimes the folks who are willing to stretch the boundaries of the group are the majority and sometimes the folks who emphasize the core precepts of the group win the day. In the transition from one majority to the other there is conflict in the group.

In times of conflict folks on both sides of the growth versus origin question will find themselves putting emphasis on the verse that asks God to do away with the folks who aren’t like ‘us.’ While it is a part of the process it does get us to lose sight of the rest of the psalm that praises God for all the great things that are gifts to us and all other parts of creation. It might be good, even in the midst of a pitched battle within our own group small or large, to step back from the battle and see all the wonders that God provides for us. God does not provide these great things because we are pure or because we are expanding the definition of what it means to be a part of the group. God provides these gifts out of a deep and abiding love for us, on every side of the question or conflict. When we see that it is not one side or the other that has earned God’s love perhaps we can take a deep breath and appreciate the intentions and practices of the folks on the other side.

December 2, 2013