Psalm Meditation 775
Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 26, 2015

Psalm 116
1 I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I pray, save my life!”
5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful.
6 The LORD protects the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
9 I walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
10 I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my consternation, “Everyone is a liar.”
12 What shall I return to the LORD for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD,
14 I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!
(NRSV)

There are folks for whom faith is a quid pro quo (this for that) relationship with God. “As long as God gives me all that I need, want and ask for I will be faithful in return. I can even put up with an occasional miss on my wants but it can’t be a big one or I am out” These folks say and do all the right things to let us know that they are people of deep and abiding faith until something happens that is beyond their limit of acceptability. Once God has failed them in a big enough way they give no indication of ever having had any faith at all.

The psalmist, and countless others through the years, has been afflicted in a way that would make a person of quid pro quo faith dessert God. Folks like the psalmist remain faithful no matter what. They sense the abiding presence of God in the highest high and the lowest low of life and faith. Even when all is not well God is with us as a loving presence. Knowing that we are not alone in the best and worst of times makes things bearable. Knowing that God is with us in all times and places adds yet another dimension to our life in faith.

Those who look to God as a magical vending machine whose desire is to grant our every wish will soon find themselves disappointed by the activity of God in their lives. Those who see God as the one who loves us beyond measure and without condition will be in an ever deepening relationship with God. Along with the relationship with God, folks will find themselves in ever deepening relationships with folks who also look to God in love and awe. Those who see God as a source of loving presence will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.

April 20, 2015
LCM