Psalm Meditation 818
Second Sunday in Lent
February 22, 2016

Psalm 73
1 Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pain; their bodies are sound and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not plagued like other people.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out with fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues range over the earth.
10 Therefore the people turn and praise them, and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Such are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued, and am punished every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,” I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
20 They are[d] like a dream when one awakes; on awaking you despise their phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was stupid and ignorant; I was like a brute beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me with honor.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 Indeed, those who are far from you will perish; you put an end to those who are false to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, to tell of all your works.
(NRSV)

In this political season it is easy for us to identify the arrogance of the candidates with whom we disagree. All we need do is look at them, listen to them awhile and their arrogance jumps out at us. Sometimes we are able to identify the arrogance in the candidates with whom we agree. It may take a bit more effort to get through the pleasing words and phrases even though we know it takes a tremendous amount of ego, bordering on arrogance, to be willing to run for public office. Are we willing to hear past the pleasing words to find the threats against those on the outside of our party, nation or people.

On our own we will have difficulty separating out the wheat from the chaff, the promises from the threats, the possible from the rhetoric. We will find a way to hear with our hearts when we join the psalmist in going into the sanctuary of God. In the presence of God we find a new set of eyes and ears, a humbleness of heart and life that makes it possible to get through the trappings of politics, to walk past the fear mongering and finger pointing, to get to the place in which God speaks of freedom from oppression and seeking justice for each and all.

Whether we enjoy politics or seek to avoid it as much as possible, we do well to echo the psalmist, “But for me it is good to be near God.” As we make our way to the presence of God we will find that we see and hear and experience our lives, and the lives of those around us differently. In the presence of God we find a new perspective, a new way of living in the world. We find a way to honor every aspect of creation.

February 15, 2016
LCM