Psalm Meditation 815
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
January 31, 2016

Psalm 78:1-24
1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
5 He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children;
6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot what he had done, and the miracles that he had shown them.
12 In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all night long with a fiery light.
15 He split rocks open in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17 Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20 Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed out and torrents overflowed, can he also give bread, or provide meat for his people?”
21 Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of rage; a fire was kindled against Jacob, his anger mounted against Israel,
22 because they had no faith in God, and did not trust his saving power.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven;
24 he rained down on them manna to eat, and gave them the grain of heaven.
(NRSV)

The technical term for storing up anger is ‘gunny sacking.’ When there is a small slight that irritates us, we believe it is not worth saying anything about so we put it in our imaginary gunny sack to store it for later. After enough slights, insults and aggravations we grab that sack by the bottom corners and shake it out onto the next person to irritate us. We feel better even though the unlucky recipient of our ire is left dazed by our display of anger over such a small event. It is not a helpful way to deal with irritation and anger.

In this psalm, through the full 72 verses, God experiences a variety of insults from the very people chosen and set apart for special attention. God’s anger burns hot against these troubling people. Sometimes God responds in a way that punishes folks for their actions, however most of the time God simply lets go of the anger and does the next thing that the people ask for, demand or need. God does not have a gunny sack in which to store slights and insults. God does not use our actions as ammunition against us, remembering things that can be used to guilt us into the course of action God would like to see us take. God feels the anger that rises in response to our actions, uses it to discipline us in some way and then lets go of it.

Most of us have our gunny sacks to store up memories of past hurts inflicted on us by those around us. We have a tendency to unload them on the folks we hold closest to our hearts, because we love and trust them despite any past slights. The history of salvation is a series of gifts from God, us learning to take those gifts for granted and asking for something newer, bigger, shinier to satisfy our newest set of needs; it is the story of how God deals with anger toward us. Yes, we are punished, or better, disciplined for our excesses, however God continues to love us, to draw us into an ever deepening relationship. Ever so slightly, we find ourselves nudged toward being the people God calls us to be.

January 25, 2016
LCM