Psalm Meditation 727
Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 25, 2014

Psalm 108
1 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul!
2 Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.
3 I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
4 For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.
6 Give victory with your right hand, and answer me, so that those whom you love may be rescued.
7 God has promised in his sanctuary: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I hurl my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
10 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
12 O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless.
13 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.
(NRSV)

The psalmist spends several verses flattering God with promises and praise, and reminding God of promises made how we and ‘they’ will be treated by God. After all that comes the question and concern of the psalm; when are you going to take care of us by doing all the things you said you would do to our enemies? It is a way to ask for things from someone who has power as well as a fragile ego. It is the way one addresses an all-powerful ruler. Since that was all the folks knew of powerful people, it was the way to address God. While we now have other experiences of styles of leadership there are those who continue to pray as if God must first be flattered and appeased before being asked for what is on our hearts and minds.

God is much more pleasant and present with us than rulers of old were with their subjects. While it is possible that folks in the future will roll their eyes at how familiar and friendly we are in addressing God, it works for us. The folks with whom I spend time are very willing to name our experience of God as one in which we are in a friendly and familial relationship with God. We are not equal with God by any means, however we are a part of a very large ‘inner circle’ with God in the center. Or, as a cartoon of King Arthur at the round table described it, “The round table signifies that we are all equal. That I am sitting on a throne signifies that I am a little more equal than the rest of you.” God is neither a bully nor a buddy.

The important part is a relationship with God of some sort. Whether God is a bully to be appeased, a buddy with whom to pal around, a parent, a servant or any other style of relating, the important thing is the relationship. Since relationships can change over their course, God would much rather be a part of our lives, individually and collectively, than to be cut out. As we experience the ways God responds to us we find ourselves responding in new ways until we find ourselves in a relationship of health and wholeness with God that leads to healthy whole relationships with others.

May 19, 2014