Psalm Meditation 784
Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
June 28, 2015

Psalm 18:1-7,40-50
1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me;
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
40 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine, like dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
43 You delivered me from strife with the peoples; you made me head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me.
45 Foreigners lost heart, and came trembling out of their strongholds.
46 The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me;
48 who delivered me from my enemies; indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries; you delivered me from the violent.
49 For this I will extol you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.
50 Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
(NRSV)

Most of us do not lead nations and armies so this psalm can appear to have no meaning for us as this king confronts enemies in the presence of God. While we do not have experience leading nations and unknown peoples we do have the experience of knowing that God is with us as we face enemies, adversaries and struggles in our lives. We may even know the satisfaction of having defeated one of those opponents in such a way that we will not have to fight that battle again. The presence of God makes a difference for us.

We revel in the knowledge that this particular enemy is so soundly defeated that there is nothing left but dust. It is an exhilarating feeling to know that this battle is over and this enemy will not rise again. There is a sense of relief and freedom that fills us as we realize that this is something with which we will never have to deal again. These battles are internal battles for many of us as we face our fears and unexamined decisions of years before. The important part is not the battleground so much as it is the recognition that we could not have won this victory without the presence of God.

Even in cases in which the battle is not finally and definitively won or lost we can find strength in the presence of God. As we win, this time, we are aware that the presence of God made this partial victory possible. As each successive battle becomes easier we are aware that it is in part due to the presence of God in our lives. Win or lose, the presence of God offers us the assurance that we are not alone. God and the people of God stand with us.

June 22, 2015
LCM