Psalm Meditation 778
Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 17, 2015

Psalm 17
1 Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.
2 From you let my vindication come; let your eyes see the right.
3 If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress.
4 As for what others do, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.
6 I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me, hear my words.
7 Wondrously show your steadfast love, O savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.
8 Guard me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,
9 from the wicked who despoil me, my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
11 They track me down; now they surround me; they set their eyes to cast me to the ground.
12 They are like a lion eager to tear, like a young lion lurking in ambush.
13 Rise up, O LORD, confront them, overthrow them! By your sword deliver my life from the wicked,
14 from mortals—by your hand, O LORD—from mortals whose portion in life is in this world. May their bellies be filled with what you have stored up for them; may their children have more than enough; may they leave something over to their little ones.
15 As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.
(NRSV)

God has a heart for the underdog, the people without, the people on the fringes. The folks in the center of money and power can convince themselves that they have no need for God, they already have everything they think they need. It is the ‘others,’ the ‘thems,’ the folks with no power or influence who see the need for someone who can stand between those who are ‘us’ and those who are ‘them.’ God stands in that breach offering help and hope to those who have none. Those with money and power may win by their definition of victory, God offers a different and more lasting victory to others.

Sometimes folks in power will invoke God to shore up the arguments of money and power. If those arguments justify money and power at the expense of those outside those circles it is not the God of the psalms that is being called upon for this particular justification. The psalmist asks God to provide all the material resources for those who believe that those are the best the world has to offer, “mortals whose portion in life is in this world.” The psalmist asks that money and power be given to those who see that as the best life has to offer.

The psalmist then asks to be included among those who live fully, wholly, holy in the presence of God. It is the relationship with God and the people of God that makes life fulfilling. Money and power are fleeting, and one must constantly be on guard to keep them from all the others who would take them for themselves. Relationships grow and deepen the more we share them with others. A relationship with God and the people of God is finally worth more than all the money and power the world has to offer.

May 11, 2015
LCM